Detroit Tigers vs Los Angeles Angels Game 125 Preview, TV, Lineup

Detroit Tigers (59-65) at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (63-61) — 7:08 PM ET

Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

TV: FSD

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket (click for affiliates)

Weather: 69 degrees, mostly cloudy

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Series Preview

Had the Detroit Tigers not lost three out of four to the Texas Rangers over the weekend, this might have been a more meaningful series for them in the playoff race, but that series loss did likely fatal damage to their faint shots at a wild-card spot.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (dumbest team name in sports–should be California Angels) are right in the thick of things, trying to make the postseason for the second straight year for the first time in since 2009.

The Tigers did the Angels no favors over the weekend as the Rangers’ success pushed them into the second wildcard spot just in front of L.A. Heading into play on Monday night, the Angels trailed the Rangers by 1.5 games.

When We Last Met

The Detroit Tigers are really good at looking lousy against the Angels and were swept in the four-game series held in Anaheim in late May. They did manage to win two of three a season ago in April at Comerica Park.

Pitching Matchup

Alfredo Simon (11-7, 4.52) turned in an absolute gem in his last outing and did it when his team needed him the most, saving a taxed bullpen by going the distance and limiting the bats of the Texas Rangers to just one-hit in the first complete game shutout of his career on Thursday. It followed two bad games for Simon after he allowed 10 runs in his previous two outings, spanning 11.2 innings. He did not pitch in Anaheim earlier this year.

Jered Weaver‘s (5-9, 4.34) days as an ace appear to be over and he was not great in his first outing on May 30 against Detroit, but was able to get the victory anyway, going 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits. Since then he had lost four straight decisions before spending a little over a month on the DL with a hip injury. He finally won his first game since that win over the Tigers in his last outing, throwing 6.1 shutout innings in a 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Detroit Tigers Lineup

Injuries

Daniel Norris — 15-day DL
Anibal Sanchez — 15-day DL
Kyle Lobstein — 60-day DL
Joe Nathan – Out for the Season

Next: Pitching Tigers biggest 2015 downfall

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Schedule