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The
Los Angeles Angels
are clearly in command of the AL West, and now the rally monkey is showing up.
The Angels look to make things a bit easier on themselves Friday night when they continue their four-game series against the
Texas Rangers
.
The Angels (81-52) lead the West by 16 games on the Rangers (66-69) after taking the first game of this series 7-5 on Thursday
behind a five-run eighth inning. The victory also reduced Los Angeles' magic number to 13 as it seeks its fourth division
title in five years.
The club also saw a familiar image to spur the comeback, as the bouncing monkey on the electronic scoreboard was shown. That
image first became a staple for the Angels in 2002, on the way to their only World Series title.
"We saw the rally monkey come out, and knew it was time," said
Juan Rivera
, who hit a go-ahead three-run, pinch-hit double in the eighth.
The Angels will give the ball to
Ervin Santana
(13-5, 3.41 ERA), who is looking for some help to win for the first time in four starts.
The right-hander is 0-0 with a 3.10 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 20 1-3 innings over his last three starts, but has received only
seven total runs of support in that span.
That trend continued Sunday, as the Angels' offense produced just two runs of support for Santana, who didn't factor in the
decision of a 5-3 win over Minnesota. In that contest, he matched his season high with 10 strikeouts and allowed three runs
and nine hits in seven innings.
Santana is 2-0 with a 5.79 ERA in two starts against the Rangers this season. Those games were both on the road, and he's
3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three career home matchups against them.
The Rangers had their three-game winning streak snapped. They appear to have conceded the division race, and are 12 games
behind wild card-leading Boston.
"You're certainly dealing with the reality that there's no way we're going to be able to catch the Angels, so we just wanted
to come out and win a ballgame," Rangers manager
Ron Washington
said after Thursday's defeat. "And we didn't get that done."
Texas turns to
Dustin Nippert
(1-3, 7.83) after
Vicente Padilla
was scratched from his scheduled start due to a strained neck muscle.
Nippert was hit hard in his only start of the season on Aug. 17, getting tagged for seven runs and eight hits, including two
homers, in four innings of a 7-4 loss to Tampa Bay. That came after the right-hander went 0-0 with a 4.35 ERA in eight relief
outings following his recall from Triple-A Oklahoma on July 5. It's also the last time he's been used by the Rangers.
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