What's new: The Angels were already good, and they're even better with the acquisition of 1B Mark Teixeira (for Seminole High's Casey Kotchman), who is hitting .383 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 16 games. They have the best record in the majors (76-46) and the best road record (39-23). They're 19-8 since the All-Star break and are averaging 6.2 runs. Frankie Rodriguez leads the majors with 47 saves (on pace for a record 63). Five starters have 10 or more wins.
Key stat: The Angels and Rockies are the only major-league teams that haven't had a 100-win or 100-loss season.
Connections: Rays manager Joe Maddon, 1B coach George Hendrick and bullpen coach Bobby Ramos are former Angels coaches; Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher spent one season with the Rays, INF Chone Figgins is a Brandon product, INF Erick Aybar is the younger brother of Rays INF Willy.
Series history: Rays lead 4-2 this season, including a May sweep at the Trop; Angels lead 65-36 overall, 28-22 at the Trop.
News
