The Angels have relied on great starting throughout the first half of the 2011 season to stay in contention, and they will continue that trend Wednesday night when they send Dan Haren to the mound to face the Texas Rangers in the second game of their 3-game set. After being shutout by the Rangers Tuesday night, the Halos will look to Haren will to end the Rangers' 12-game winning streak and to keep the Angels from falling further behind in the standings. With last night's win, the Rangers have a season high 5-game lead in the AL West.
Haren (10-6, 2.75 ERA), who recently had his personal 4-game win streak snapped in Oakland over the weekend, will be making his second against Texas this season. Back on May 14th, the right-hander went 7.2 innings in the Halos' win in Texas, allowing one run on six hits. In his career, Haren is 4-6 with a 3.40 ERA in 14 starts against Texas.
The Angels will need a dominating start from Haren as their offense hasn't returned from the all-star break. Torii Hunter has gone 0 for 18 since the break, while Howie Kendrick has just one hit in his last 15 at-bats since appearing in this season's all-star game. Prior to the break, Kendrick had just had his 18-game hit streak snapped against Seattle.
Looking to extend their 12-game streak, the Rangers turn to Derek Holland. Holland (8-4, 4.32 ERA) will look to also extend his own shutout streak of 18 innings when he takes the mound against the Angels. The left-hander has thrown back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts, allowing just 9 hits and striking out fifteen.
The Rangers have allowed just 2 runs over the last 6 games, and have outscored their opponents 77 to 24 during their current streak. The Angels on the other hand are 1-4 since the all-star break and have scored 11 runs while allowing 27.
Who's Hot - Last 14 Days:
Alberto Callaspo - 11 for his last 29 (.379)
Erick Aybar - 11 for his last 34 (.324), 2 HR
Mark Trumbo - 10 for his last 35 (.286), 2 2B, 5 HR, 7 RBI
Elvis Andrus - 15 for his last 37 (.405)
Mike Napoli - 12 for his last 24 (.500), 4 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI
Eddy Chavez - 11 for his last 25 (.440)
Josh Hamilton - 12 for his last 38 (.316), 4 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI
Ian Kinsler - 14 for his last 43 (.326), 5 2B, 3 HR
Who's Cold - Last 14 Days:
Bobby Abreu - 5 for his last 32 (.156)
Maicer Izturis - 2 for his last 25 (.080)
Howie Kendrick - 5 for his last 33 (.152)
Mike Trout - 3 for his last 24 (.125)
Nelson Cruz - 6 for his last 37 (.162), 10K
Mitch Moreland - 6 for his lat 33 (.182)
Game time is 7:05 (PDT) and will be show on Fox Sports West. For more Angels' news, be sure to check out Halos Heaven.