Texas @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 29, 2010 ) Texas 5, LA Angels 6
You can’t blame Josh Hamilton if he attempts to add a few days to the calendar to make sure the month of June doesn’t end quite yet.
The Texas Rangers’ star outfielder set a franchise record for hits in a single month on Tuesday and will attempt to stretch his hitting streak to 23 games on Wednesday when the Rangers face the Los Angeles Angels in the second game of a three-game series.
Hamilton went 1-for-5 in Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to give him 48 hits in June, surpassing the franchise mark of 47 shared by Mickey Rivers (August 1980) and Frank Catalanotto (August 2001).
Hamilton is batting .462 (42-for-91) during his 22-game hitting streak. He drove in a run on a groundout Tuesday for his 29th RBI during the streak. Overall, he has 31 RBIs in June.
Hamilton has hit half of his 18 homers and has accumulated more than half of his 58 RBIs this month, recapturing his 2008 All-Star form when he had 32 homers and 130 RBIs.
The numbers were much lower a year ago as injuries limited to Hamilton to just 89 games. He had just 10 homers and 54 RBIs.
Angels left-hander Scott Kazmir will attempt to halt Hamilton’s hitting streak today. Hamilton is 3-for-12 (.250) lifetime against Kazmir.
Kazmir won four consecutive starts before being rocked hard by the Los Angeles Dodgers in his last outing. He gave up five runs, six hits and walked three while lasting just 3 2/3 innings.
Kazmir is 7-6 with a 5.42 earned-run average. He’s 6-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 11 starts career against Texas, with one of the losses occurring in mid-May, when gave up four runs and nine hits in seven innings.
Right-hander Omar Beltre makes his major league debut for Texas. Beltre was winless in five starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City but had a nifty 2.39 ERA in 15 appearances.
Beltre was banned from the United States for five years (2005-09) due to his involvement with a 2004 human-trafficking ring. He was granted a visa earlier this season and returned to the Rangers organization.
Tuesday’s loss was just the second for Texas in its last 15 games. It also snapped an impressive eight-game road winning streak that fell one short of the team record.
A Rangers’ victory today would set a franchise record of 21 wins in a single month. Texas is 20-6 in June.
Vladimir Guerrero homered and had three RBIs in his return to Anaheim. He played for the Angels from 2004-09.
Los Angeles shortstop Erick Aybar had his second consecutive two-hit game in his fourth contest since being sidelined eight games with a knee injury.
The Angels also have been hot in June – they are 18-8 after Tuesday’s victory.