Tonight at 8:05 p.m. ET, the Los Angeles Angels (90-55) and Texas Rangers (54-91) take the field at Globe Life Park in Arlington for the third and final contest of a three-game series. The game can be live streamed here. Los Angeles fans can hear all of the action on KLAA 830 while Texas fans can do the same on 103.3 ESPN.
Los Angeles looks for its eight straight win as it closes out a 10-game road trip it is currently 7-2 on while Texas looks to avoid its third loss in a row as it continues a 10-game homestand it is 1-5 on thus far.
The Angels defeated the Rangers 9-3 Tuesday night and followed it up with an 8-1 triumph Wednesday as they go for the sweep tonight.
Los Angeles' recent surge has given it plenty of room in the division race as they own a nine-game lead over the second place Oakland Athletics in the American League West. Texas enters play with the worst record in baseball and is out of playoff contention.
Rookie Cory Rasmus (3-1, 2.81 ERA) toes the rubber for the Angels while the Rangers counter with a rookie of their own in Nick Martinez, who is 3-10 with a 5.03 ERA.
Rasmus didn't have his stuff last time which was surprising as he was coming off of a solid performance.
"What Cory did the first time, that's the way he can pitch," pitching coach Mike Butcher told MLB.com. "He didn't quite have it [on Saturday], but we know going in that it's going to be a bullpen game, that we'll have to piece it together."
Martinez is hoping to win for the first time at home as he is 0-5 in Arlington and he's hopeful he can just finish the season strong.
"Apply what I've learned and try to go out there and compete," Martinez said per MLB.com. "Go deep into the game and give my team a chance to win."
He'll face an Angels lineup that will likely be without outfielder Josh Hamilton again as he missed his sixth straight start Wednesday with a stiff right shoulder. Hamilton is hitting .263 with 10 homers and 44 RBI in what has been a down year for him.
Los Angeles has been paced by outfielder and MVP candidate Mike Trout, who leads the MLB with 306 total bases and paces the AL with 103 RBI and 101 runs. Trout also ranks third with a .551 slugging percentage and fourth with a .924 OPS while leading the team with 32 homers.
Second baseman Howie Kendrick leads the Angels with a .290 batting average thus far this season.
The Rangers have been flanked by third baseman Adrian Beltre, who is third in the AL with a .326 batting average and a .388 on-base percentage. Beltre also paces Texas with 18 homers and 71 RBI. Outfielder Alex Rios is tied for second in the AL with eight triples.
Two AL West rivals go head-to-head when the Angels and Rangers clash as Los Angeles tries to pad its AL West lead and trim its magic number tonight in Arlington.
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