Yankees at Angels Preview

After the Yankees’ sweep of the Oakland Athletics, they now head down to Los Angeles to finish the road trip with the Angels. This series will continue the theme of the road trip where the home team has good pitching, but just does not have the bats to support it. You have to like the way the Yankees have played the last four games bringing both their arms and bats to the table.

The Angels struggled in their last series, losing two of three to the Kansas City Royals. At 29-29, Los Angeles is searching for answers in a wide-open American League West division. They are only two games back of the Rangers, but they have gone through so many issues. They had to replace their closer with a young Jordan Walden (12 saves) and they found out that they would not have their power first baseman Kendrys Morales for the second straight season. This team is so desperate for power that they now have Russell Branyan, who is batting .188. Do not expect anything less from this team under Mike Scioscia. They always seem to find a way to shut down an offense with their arms and play the right amount of small ball. Just ask Joe Torre.

Here are the pitching matchups for this series:

Friday, 10:05, YES: Ivan Nova (4-3, 4.67 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver (6-4, 2.10)

Saturday, 9:05, YES: CC Sabathia (6-3, 2.98) vs. Dan Haren (5-3, 2.29)

Sunday, 3:35, YES: Bartolo Colon (3-3, 3.26) vs. Ervin Santana (3-4, 4.34)

On the next page, check out three key elements that the Angels have that can give New York some problems: