New York @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 23, 2010 ) NY Yankees 4, LA Angels 6
The Los Angeles Angels’ World Series drought certainly isn’t anywhere near that long considering the length of time between other team’s previous appearances.
What is perplexing is how the Angels have managed to miss out on the grand finale since winning their only championship in 2002, despite capturing five of the six past American League West crowns.
The most recent reason for the Angels falling short of reaching that goal is the New York Yankees.
The Yankees dispatched the Angels in six games during last year’s AL Championship Series on the way to winning their 27th championship in franchise history.
From the looks of things so far in 2010, New York figures to be a prominent roadblock in the Angels’ deep playoff-run aspirations.
The Yankees are off to a hot start, but the Angels got the better of them in Friday’s 6-4 win in the series-opener.
The two will again do battle in Saturday’s showdown featuring a pair of impressive starters.
Going for the Yankees is veteran Andy Pettitte, who is still pitching like he is in the prime of his career. The 37-year-old is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA through three starts, including a win over the Angels.
His last outing was his best of the season as he struck out four and allowed a pair of runs on four hits in eight innings against the Texas Rangers.
Pettitte didn’t fair well against the Angels during the regular season a year ago with a 7.88 ERA, but went 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two starts during the ALCS -- including winning the Game 6 clincher.
Joel Pineiro will oppose Pettitte as he tries to continue a hot streak in his first season with the Angels. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts, with one of the wins coming against the Yankees.
Pineiro has allowed three runs or less in each start and has given up 19 hits against 13 strikeouts. He has been pretty sharp in 17 career appearances - nine starts-- against the Yankees, going 3-3 with a 3.22 ERA.
The Angels got back into the win column after suffering consecutive defeats at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. Before that they had rolled off five straight wins.
New York took two of three against Los Angeles when the teams met last week.