Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels (10:05 pm ET, FS-W)
Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Lakers lock horns in Game 1 (10:05 pm ET, FS-W) on Tuesday, at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, California. The Rangers have 46-29 home, 18-17 away record whereas Angels have 43-35 away, 21-17 home record.
Vladimir Guerrero was a part of five AL West title-winning teams, during his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
On Tuesday night, when he returns to Anaheim, the revived slugger will look to boost the Texas Rangers‘ chances of winning the 2010-crown. Guerrero hit .295 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs in his final season with the Angels, although he was limited to 100 games because of a torn chest muscle and an ailing knee. Los Angeles passed on bringing the 2004 AL MVP back to the team because of those injuries and his diminished role in the outfield. To be their designated hitter, the Angels added Hideki Matsui and the Rangers ended up signing Guerrero to a one-year deal worth $5.5 million.
To the team’s recent success, Josh Hamilton’s career-best 21-game hitting streak has also contributed. For this year’s All-Star Game with a .346 average, 18 homers and 57 RBIs this season, the outfielder is making a strong case to return to Anaheim. Hamilton matched a team record with 47 hits in June with a 468-foot homer in Sunday’s 10-1 win over Houston and he is hitting .477 (41 of 86) during his streak.
With consecutive wins, the right-hander, Scott Feldman (5-6, 5.32 ERA) has benefited from his team’s offensive prowess. In Thursday’s 6-5 comeback victory over Pittsburgh, he was bailed out after allowing 5 runs and 12 hits over six innings.
Joel Pineiro (7-6, 4.21), who has won four straight starts; allowing one run in each of the last three will oppose Feldman. He will make his first start against the Rangers since Aug. 10, 2006 with 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA over his last five home games.
