First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Detroit -125, Los Angeles +115, Total: 8

The Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers, two teams playing well below expectations, go head-to-head in their second of three games in this set on Wednesday night.

The Angels currently reside in third in the AL West, sitting five games behind the Houston Astros and just a half game behind the second-place Rangers. They certainly have the talent to compete on a nightly basis, but have not put all the pieces together and have lost four of the last five games. In that time they ran into the steamroller that is the Toronto Blue Jays who swept them over three games, but the Angels rebounded with an 8-7 victory in the opener of this series, getting 11 hits in the process as the 3-4-5 hitters went 6-for-13 with four RBIs and five runs scored. OF Mike Trout (.297) continues to be one of the elite players in the game and is in the MVP race once again as he ranks amongst the top-five in the AL in HRs (33), runs (81), walks (65) and OPS (.976). The Tigers seemed destined to be the team to beat in the AL Central for years, but age and inconsistent play along with the Royals becoming a juggernaut has put them 18 games out of first place. They come into this one riding a five-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 31-17 and saw four of the defeats come at home. The most recent was on Tuesday as they knocked out 12 hits in the one-run loss while going 4-for-16 with RISP. Although he does not qualify, 1B Miguel Cabrera’s .371 batting average ranks him highest in the category and he has been on an absurd tear during his current 10-game hitting streak, going 22-for-41 (.537) with nine doubles, one homer, nine RBIs and 11 runs scored. LHP Hector Santiago (7-7, 2.91 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels in this game as he goes against former Cy Young Award winner RHP Justin Verlander (1-6, 3.86 ERA) of the host Detroit group. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Los Angeles when traveling as they are 25-34 (.424) when on the road and will face this Tiger team that is a poor 29-34 (.460) at Comerica Park. It hasn’t even been close when these two go up against each other since the start of 2013 as L.A. has laid the lumber to the tune of a 15-3 record while being 5-2 on the road in that time. In 2015, the Angels have taken all five of the matchups with Detroit, outscoring them 34-17. Trends show that the Tigers have failed to win in eight attempts with a money line of +125 of -125 in games where Verlander starts this year while Los Angeles is a putrid 13-32 (.289) as an underdog of +100 or more on the season. There are plenty of injuries to report on the Angels’ side of the diamond as OF Matt Joyce (Concussion), 3B David Freese (Finger), OF Collin Cowgill (Wrist) and 2B Taylor Featherston (Back) are all currently on the DL. On the other hand, Detroit has no significant injuries to its offense.

Santiago was a huge acquisition for the Angels as the lefty has been able to improve each season since converting from a reliever and after joining his new team has seen his ERA drop to a career-best mark of 2.91 this year. That mark coincides with his improved control (2.97 BB/9) which was a big struggle for him as a member of the White Sox. He relies on the strikeout (8.4 K/9) as well since he gets batters to hit it on the ground a meager 30.8% of the time, a stat that has aided in the opposition putting 1.18 balls per nine innings over the outfield fence. He has been lucky this year, as batters are hitting a low .256 BABIP against him while he is leaving 83.2% of runners on base; leading to a FIP (Fielder Independent Pitching) of 4.12. Santiago has struggled to get deep into games of late, going past six innings just once in his last seven outings as it took 95 pitches to get through 3.2 frames in his last start against the Blue Jays. The lefty has really performed well against this tough Detroit lineup in his career, going 1-3 (3-3 team record) with a 1.73 ERA (1.18 WHIP) and grabbed a victory behind a stellar performance (7.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 7 K) back in May. As a group, the players for the Tigers have gone 13-for-80 (.163) with 22 strikeouts against the 27-year-old as even 1B Miguel Cabrera (2-for-11, 3 K) has been shut down. The only homer to come out of this group was from OF Rajai Davis, but that was his sole hit in 10 at-bats in this matchup. The bullpen for Los Angeles has gone 20-13 with a 3.64 ERA (1.27 WHIP) and is 32-for-46 (70%) in save opportunities. Huston Street (2.66 ERA, 30 saves) has blown four games on the year, giving up a mere 39 hits in 50.2 innings of work.

Verlander was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball between 2009-2012, going 78-31 during that stretch while winning the 2011 Cy Young and MVP awards. Since then he has had to deal with a wealth of injuries which has resulted in a decrease in his velocity to a career-low average fastball of 93.0 MPH in 2015. He looks to be adjusting, though, and while his strikeouts (7.3 K/9) are much lower than when in his prime, his control (2.1 BB/9) has been exceptional and he has been able to go at least seven innings in five of his last six starts. Wins have not come easily though, as the Tigers have scored a total of 10 runs in those six games and he is 0-2 in his last three outings despite giving up four runs (1 ER) on 11 hits with 22 strikeouts in 20 innings. Victories have also not come easily when he is facing the Angels as he is 4-5 (5-8 team record) with a 4.07 ERA (1.32 WHIP) against them in his career. SS Erick Aybar (10-for-29, 2 doubles, 7 RBI) and 1B Albert Pujols (6-for-12, 3 doubles) have had plenty of success when going up against this veteran righty, but not all have done well with OFs Mike Trout and Shane Victorino combining to go 2-for-15 (.133) in the matchup. The relievers for this club have once again been dismal, collectively going 19-17 with a 4.43 ERA (1.45 WHIP) and have been successful in a meager 29-of-45 (64%) save chances. Bruce Rondon (5.66 ERA, 2 saves) will be given the chance at ninth-inning duties as he’s shown big strikeout ability (13.5 K/9) while suffering from some bad luck (.362 BABIP).