First pitch: Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -110, Los Angeles +100, Total: 8

The Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros are dead even atop the AL West division as they head into the second of three games in Texas on Wednesday night.

After taking a back seat to the Astros for much of the season, the Angels have seen the bats heat up with the summer air and after the All-Star break were able to rattle off six consecutive wins while outscoring opponents 34-6. That hot streak did not continue, though, and they have won once in their last five attempts; including a big 10-5 defeat at the hand of this opponent on Tuesday. Los Angeles was a 3-for-10 with RISP, but could not overcome the poor start (4 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 3 K) by C.J. Wilson. Missing from the lineup was OF Mike Trout (.315) who is currently listed as day-to-day and his absence would certainly hurt as he is the league-leader in HRs (31), runs (75), SLG (.632) and OPS (1.038). While the Angels have heated up with the summer months, the Astros have cooled down overall and went 1-8 in their last nine contests prior to the break. The days off were certainly needed as they came back with fire in their eyes and are 7-3 since the break. The offense was on point in Tuesday’s victory over this opponent as they were 6-for-14 with RISP and saw six balls go for extra-bases. The MVP of the game with five RBI was 2B Jose Altuve (.305) who has gone 17-for-42 (.405) with five doubles, one HR, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored in the past 10 contests. A couple of young righties will face off in this one as 27-year-old RHP Garrett Richards (10-7, 3.25 ERA) gets the call for the visitors and will hope to outpitch 21-year-old RHP Lance McCullers (4-3, 2.60 ERA) of the host group. Los Angeles has not been too impressive on the road with an even 23-23 record and they may have trouble once again against Houston who is 34-17 in the confines of its home park. In the past three seasons, the Angels hold a 26-23 edge over this young Astros crew, but have split the 22 games (11-11) when at Minute Maid Park during that stretch. The teams have split their four games this year as well, with Houston’s wins coming by an average of 7.5 runs and L.A.’s by just one. Trends to watch in this one include that the Angels are 67-39 (.632) in the second half of the season going back to last year as the Astros have posted a record of 18-6 (.750) after batting .240 or worse over a 15-game span this season. As mentioned previously, OF Mike Trout (Wrist) is currently day-to-day while his teammates 3B David Freese (Finger), OF Matt Joyce (Concussion) and OF Collin Cowgill (Wrist) are on the DL. For Houston, the team continues to miss the services of both OF George Springer (Wrist) and SS Jed Lowrie (Thumb).

Richards has been huge for this Angels team since becoming a fixture in their rotation last year and he has followed his 4.5 WAR season over 26 starts in 2014 with 10 victories through his first 18 outings in 2015. There are some worrisome stats going on this year, though, with his strikeouts dropping from 8.8 K/9 last season to a pedestrian 6.8 K/9 in 116.1 frames this year. Also, his BABIP has been very low in both 2014 (.264) and 2015 (.261), which will likely turn someday as he is primarily a groundball pitcher (53.2% GB). He’s been able to get deep into his last two games, going a total of 17 innings with three runs allowed on a meager six hits while striking out 11 (4 walks). Richards has done well in his time against this opponent as well, going 4-2 (6-2 team record) with a 3.51 ERA (1.23 WHIP) and was dominant (6.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 10 K) when he last saw them in May. The batters for Houston have had a ton of experience against Richards, and the duo of 2B Jose Altuve and 1B Chris Carter are a combined 14-for-45 (.311) with a homer and five RBIs. Many players on the team have struggled, though, with SS Marwin Gonzalez (2-for-16, 6 K) doing the worst of the bunch. The bullpen for L.A. sits right in the middle of the league with a 15-8 record, 3.48 ERA (1.22 WHIP) and are 26-for-38 (68%) in save chances. Huston Street (2.87 ERA, 25 saves) is the owner of just three of those blown saves but has given up at least one run in three of his last seven appearances.

McCullers is smack dab in the middle of the youth movement that has swept through Houston this season and he has passed the eye test with flying colors thus far. The righty is barely able to legally buy alcohol, but he has made plenty of veteran Major Leaguers look silly as evidenced by his 9.5 K/9 mark. This came as no surprise, though, as he mowed down an unbelievable amount of batters through his minor league career. Homers have been no issue despite playing in what is considered a hitters park as just three balls have left the yard against him in 69.1 frames (0.39 HR/9). He’s allowed three or fewer runs in all but one of his 12 outings, but fails to get too deep into them with just half of them going for six or more innings. He was able to meet with the Angels for the first time in late June and ended up earning a no-decision in a low-scoring affair where he went six strong with one run allowed on four hits. SS Erick Aybar (2-for-3) was the only player to have two base knocks against him as OF Mike Trout, 1B Albert Pujols and C Chris Iannetta combined to go hitless with three strikeouts in six at-bats. The ‘pen for the Astros has been a key piece of their winning ways as it has gone 18-16 with a 2.64 ERA (1.01 WHIP) and successfully saved 27-of-40 (68%) games. Luke Gregorson (2.97 ERA, 21 saves) has not given up a run since June 7th (12.1 IP) and has shown amazing control with no free passes allowed since back in May.