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Richards looks to keep Angels hot Wednesday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 8/20/2014  at  4:33:00 AM
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LOS ANGELES ANGELS (74-50)

at BOSTON RED SOX (56-69)

First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -140, Boston +130, Total: 8.5

The sizzling hot Los Angeles Angels take on the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

The Angels have won six of their past seven games with four of the six victories coming by just a single run. This hot streak gives them the best record in the majors and a half-game lead over Oakland in the AL West. They narrowly defeated Boston in the second game of this series on Tuesday, coming away with a 4-3 victory as their bullpen tossed 3.2 scoreless innings of one-hit ball. While the team has been playing great, OF Josh Hamilton (.263 BA) has been struggling mightily, going 5-for-41 (.122) with 18 strikeouts over his past 11 games played. Boston is in the midst of a lost year, currently sitting in last place in the AL East, 16.5 games behind Baltimore, and the club has dropped four of its past five contests. This includes losses in the first two games of this series as the Red Sox offense has mustered a total of five runs while going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position in Tuesday’s loss. DH David Ortiz (.256 BA) is having another huge year (29 HR, 92 RBI) and is 12-for-32 (.375) with three home runs and 10 RBI over his past eight games. The pitching matchup for this contest will put L.A.'s ace, RHP Garrett Richards (13-4, 2.53 ERA), against RHP Clay Buchholz (5-7, 5.79 ERA). The Angels have done well on the road this year with a 33-27 record (.550, 7th in MLB) while Boston is a poor 29-35 (.453, 7th-worst in majors) when playing in front of its home fans. These two clubs have gone head-to-head 17 times over the past three seasons with L.A. holding a strong 12-6 edge overall, including 6-2 in Fenway. As far as trends are concerned, the Angels are 40-15 (.727) this season when facing teams with a losing record, but are only 33-43 (.434) over the past two years versus a starting pitcher who gives up 0.5 home runs or less per start. On the injury front, 2B Grant Green (back) is on the 15-day DL for the Angels, while OF Allen Craig (ankle) is currently on a rehab assignment for host Boston.

Garrett Richards has quickly become the ace of the Angels’ staff as he comes into this game with the fifth-best ERA (2.53) and WHIP (1.01) in the AL while striking out 164 batters in the process (7th in AL). His strikeout rate has gone up in each of the past three seasons with his 8.8 K/9 in 2014 being significantly better than last year (6.3 K/9) while he has continued to show amazing control (2.7 BB/9) and limit balls from leaving the park (0.27 HR/9). Some numbers suggest that he is not quite this elite (.258 BABIP, 75.2% LOB), but he certainly has taken the next step to being a difference maker in the league. When he hits the mound, Los Angeles can be confident that its bullpen will get some rest as Richards has thrown at least six innings in all but two of his 25 starts this year, leading his team to an 18-7 mark (.720), including 11-3 on the road. The right-hander has allowed three or fewer runs in 12 of his past 14 outings. His one start against Boston came earlier this season when he went 6.1 innings while giving up three runs (1 ER) on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in a no-decision. OF Yoenis Cespedes has the most experience against the righty and is 6-for-19 (.316) with 3 RBI in the matchup, while 1B Mike Napoli (4-for-7, 1 HR, 3 RBI) has also gotten to Richards in limited at-bats. While the sample size is small, 3B Brock Holt is hitless in four at-bats in the matchup with two strikeouts. The Angels’ bullpen was brilliant in Tuesday’s victory and overall on the year the group is 23-16 with a 3.43 ERA and 1.20 WHIP while successfully converting 37-of-52 (71%) saves. Huston Street (1.17 ERA, 34 saves) has been a huge addition to this club, and is 9-for-10 in save opportunities while posting a 1.50 ERA since joining the team.

Clay Buchholz has not been having the season he was hoping to put forth after going an amazing 12-1 last year in 16 starts. Unlike Richards, the Boston starter has been quite unlucky (.336 BABIP, 64.5% LOB) while also seeing his walk rate climb up to its highest mark (3.3 BB/9) since the 2011 campaign. After allowing just four home runs over 108.1 frames last year (0.33 HR/9), he has seen 15 bombs go over his head in 2014 (1.16 HR/9) and has allowed one in each of his past two starts. Those outings actually were not bad though, as he combined to throw 15 innings over the two games while giving up five runs on 13 hits with a solid 17 strikeouts and four walks in two no-decisions. Buchholz has now faced the Angels 12 times in his career, going 6-3 (6-6 team record) with a 4.42 ERA and 1.43 WHIP while his team is 1-3 in his past four starts against them. Earlier in this season, the right-hander did well against L.A., allowing three runs on eight baserunners (6 H, 2 BB) over eight innings while striking out eight batters. OF Mike Trout (6-for-13, 2 HR, 3 RBI), 1B Albert Pujols (5-for-12, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and 2B Howie Kendrick (8-for-23, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBI) have all done very well in this matchup. However, SS Erick Aybar and OF Josh Hamilton have combined to go a pathetic 5-for-50 (.100) with nine strikeouts against Richards. The Red Sox bullpen is 17-23 with a 3.27 ERA and 1.26 WHIP this year while converting 30-of-43 (70%) saves. Closer Koji Uehara (1.53 ERA, 26 saves) took the loss on Tuesday, but is still 26-for-28 is his save chances while having a 72:7 K/BB ratio over his 58.2 innings on the mound.


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