Texas @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2018 ) Texas 1, LA Angels 8

The Los Angeles Angels are limping toward the end of the season and an uncertain future, but at least they still have Mike Trout. The Angels and their superstar will try to snap a five-game slide when they open their final homestand of 2018 by hosting the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Los Angeles was outscored 58-13 over the last five games, with Sunday's 6-2 setback at Houston marking the closest final score in the bunch, and could be looking at major changes in leadership in the offseason with manager Mike Scioscia's future in question. "I don't think it's running out of gas," Scioscia told reporters. "There's a lot of youth on the field, there's a lot of youth in our bullpen. There's going to be growing pains. I think the guys still have their stuff. We went through that one week where we were getting at least to a certain point of games with our starters, and we were winning games. That evaporated this week. It was tough." Trout was given a day off on Sunday after hitting his 38th homer in Saturday's loss and will be going up against a Texas team that already waived goodbye to its manager and sits in last place in the American League West despite taking two of three from the Seattle Mariners in their final home series over the weekend. Texas will begin its road trip with rookie Adrian Sampson on the mound while the Angels counter with righty Felix Pena.

TV: 10:07 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), FS West (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Adrian Sampson (0-2, 4.09 ERA) vs. Angels RH Felix Pena (3-5, 4.20)

Sampson is getting a chance to earn himself a spot in the Rangers rotation of the future and is still looking for his first major league win. The 26-year-old allowed a total of three runs over 10 2/3 innings against the Angels and Tampa Bay since joining the rotation on Sept. 11, but could not get even one run of support from his offense in either of those two outings. Sampson surrendered a solo home run among two hits at Los Angeles on Sept. 11 before coming out on the wrong end of a 1-0 final.

Pena had a string of four straight quality starts come to an end when he was knocked around for six runs on as many hits and a walk over four innings at Oakland on Wednesday. The Dominican Republic native, who is working as a full-time starter for the first time in his career, earned the win in his previous two outings. Pena had no trouble with Texas on Sept. 12, when he scattered six hits over six scoreless innings in a victory.

WALK-OFFS

1. Angels SS Andrelton Simmons (knees) left Sunday's game and is day-to-day.

2. Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre, 39, was given an extended ovation on Sunday in what was possibly his final game with Texas.

3. Los Angeles 1B Jose Fernandez (hand) sat out Sunday and is day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Angels 8, Rangers 3