Milwaukee @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Mar 30, 2010 ) Milwaukee 1, LA Angels 1
The streaking Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim certainly don’t seem to be missing Kendry Morales, especially against the National League.
The Angels will be looking to run their interleague winning streak to four when they open a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.
Los Angeles wrapped up a 14-game road trip with its 11th victory on Sunday - the team's most wins on any trip since 1962. A three-game Freeway Series sweep at Dodger Stadium capped the trip and marked the first time since interleague play began that the Angels had swept their cross-town rivals on the road.
The entire trip was taken without the services of Morales, who went down with a broken leg on May 29 and had season-ending surgery last week. The Cuban slugger still holds the team lead with 11 homers and a .290 batting average, but his absence hasn’t resulted in disaster just yet.
Stepping up at the plate during Sunday’s 6-5 win were Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu, each with two hits apiece. Mike Napoli and Torii Hunter also got into the act, each clubbing their 10th homer of the season to pull within one of Morales’ team lead.
Napoli, normally a catcher, has been getting regular starts at first base since Morales went down and is likely to see even more time there once catcher Jeff Mathis comes off the disabled list. Mathis is on a minor league rehab assignment and is recovering from a fractured wrist,
Joe Saunders will get the call for the Angels in the opener against Milwaukee. The left-hander has picked up back-to-back wins in his last two starts and is coming off a complete game at the Oakland Athletics last week in which he allowed one run on seven hits while striking out two.
Saunders has allowed one earned run or less in five of his last seven starts after starting the season 1-5 with a 7.04 ERA through May 3. The Virginia native, who turns 29 on Wednesday, has dominated interleague play in the past. He is 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight starts against National League teams.
The Brewers will counter with veteran left-hander Randy Wolf. Signed to a three-year, $29.75 million contract in the offseason, Wolf has yet to provide much return on Milwaukee’s investment.
He began the season 3-2 with a 3.95 ERA through May 8 but has gotten hammered since, going 1-4 with a 7.01 ERA while allowing opponents a post a .940 OPS. Wolf’s last start was his worst, as he was pounded by the Chicago Cubs for eight runs in 4 2/3 innings, with five home runs included among nine hits allowed.
Interleague play hasn’t been the greatest thing in the world either for Wolf, who owns an 8-11 career mark with a 4.00 ERA in 28 appearances - 26 starts - against the opposing league. He has made two starts against Los Angeles, going 0-1 while yielding 17 hits and eight runs in 11 2/3 combined innings.