Week ahead for Angels: On road vs. Rays, home series against Athletics

Published Jun. 8, 2015 11:31 a.m. ET

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The week ahead

Monday will give the Angels time to think about what happened during their disappointing weekend visit to New York. Following the off day, the team will open up a three-game series in Tampa against the Rays. It will be the second meeting with Tampa in as many weeks. The Angels will then return home to host Oakland for the weekend, beginning Friday. All Angels game this week can be seen on FOX Sports West.

The week behind

After sweeping from the Tigers the week prior, things just went downhill for the Angels. Tampa was in town for three at the beginning of the week and took two of those games. One was thanks to a 15-strikeout gem from Rays starter Chris Archer last Tuesday. On Friday, the Halos opened up a three game-set with the Yankees and were swept out of the Bronx. Jered Weaver and Garrett Richards gave up seven earned runs and six earned runs, respectively, in the first two games. Richards didn't make it out of the first inning. Sunday's loss in the series finale extended the Angels losing streak to five games.

Record and standings 

The Angels enter Monday 28-29 on the year and have fallen to third place in the American League West. The Angels trail the second place Rangers by two games and the division leading Astros by 5.5 games.

Thumb's up

Albert Pujols continues to swing a hot bat -- he went deep again on Sunday for his fourth homer of the week. It was also No. 535 of his career, which moved him past Jimmie Foxx into sole possession of 17th on the all-time home run list and one behind Mickey Mantle.   

Thumb's down 

Garrett Richards' is in the middle of what he calls a "rough patch." The Angels starter didn't make it out of the first inning on Saturday against the Yankees, tossing just 0.2 innings, while allowing five hits, six earned runs and two walks. During his last four starts, Richards is 2-2 with a 7.91 ERA and opponents are hitting .329 off of him.

Player to watch 

Mike Scioscia decided to shake up the rotation with a couple of off days on the horizon. That meant Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker moving to the bullpen for a short time to be used if needed. Santiago's number was called on Saturday during Richards' short outing. Santiago threw 45 pitches in 3.2 innings of work. Shoemaker is expected to start on Tuesday in the series opener against the Rays. Santiago is slated to return to the rotation on Friday in the series opener against Oakland. It's going to be interesting to see how Santiago fares after having to make an appearance out of the bullpen in between starts.

Stat to watch 

After tying a season high with a five-game win streak to start the week, the Angels finished the week setting a season-high with five consecutive losses. The Halos will enter Tampa this week riding that losing streak, facing a team they dropped two of three to last week.

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