Series Preview: Angels v. Cubs, June 18 – June 20, 2010

The Chicago Cubs continue their AL West interleague play today as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California in the United States Near Disneyland head to Wrigley. Hopefully the Cubs play the Angels as well as they played their AL West chums, the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers. So far they’ve been the only teams outside of Milwaukee and Arizona that the Cubs could actually beat. Time for the Series Preview.

The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of hot chicks, too.

We’re Going Streaking

The Cubs have won two in a row. That’s all I’m saying.

The Angels just lost a series to the Brewers after sweeping the Dodgers, and they’ve won 16 of their last 22. They’re five games over .500, and 2.5 back in the AL West.

Game Times and Broadcasts

• Friday, June 18 at 1:20 CT on CSN.
• Saturday, June 19 at 12:05 CT on WGN.
• Sunday, June 20 at 1:20 CT on WGN.

Expected Starters and Lineups

These lineups are usually pretty close.

Cubs

Starters: Carlos Silva (8-1, 2.89), Ted Lilly (2-5, 2.90), Carlos Zambrano (2-5, 5.66)

Lineup (never the same, man):

1. Theriot, 2B (totally deserved)
2. Baker, 3B
3. Byrd, CF
4. Lee, 1B
5. Colvin, RF (assuming he still gets shots against lefties; otherwise Nady)
6. Soriano, LF
7. Soto, C (Hill)
8. Castro, SS
9. Pitcher

Angels

Starters: Scott Kazmir (6-5, 5.27), Jered Weaver (6-3, 3.29), Joe Saunders (5-7, 4.70)

Lineups:

1. Howie Kendrick, 2B
2. Mike Napoli, 1B
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Tori Hunter, CF
5. Juan Rivera, LF (might try to get Matsui in there somehow)
6. Kevin Frandsen, 3B
7. Bobby Wilson, C
8. Brandon Wood, SS
9. Pitcher

Hot or Not and Whom to Watch

Tyler Colvin’s already had more at bats in June than he had in all of May, and his numbers haven’t been worse for the wear – his line in June is an excellent .313/.353/.594.

Time off seems to have done Geovany Soto well, as he had seen his slash line fall to as low as .256/.408/.393 on May 28, but now has it back up to .276/.417/.462 thanks to a scorching June where he, well, hasn’t played all that much.

For the Angels, Scott Kazmir has turned his season around of late, winning four in a row with a 2.63 ERA during that stretch.

Offensively, everything the Cubs are, the Angels aren’t. Although they’re just 18th in the league in batting average, 24th in OBP, and 14th in slugging, they’re 7th in runs scored. They get guys home.

Watch out for Bobby Abreu, who has always raked at Wrigley Field.

Series She-View

And now the best part of the preview: if the teams were represented by beautiful women, who would they be, and what would the match up look like. I thought long and hard about whether I should change things up this year, and offer a different representative for the Cubs this year, after a 2009 full of Marisa Miller. But then I realized Marisa Miller is still smoking hot.

So, given the fact that she’s thrown out the first pitch, sung the Seventh Inning Stretch, probably likes the Cubs, and – like the Cubs – is still hot, just one year older, I’ve chosen to stick with supermodel Marisa Miller.

You’re welcome.

Thank God for interleague play against the NL West, eh? Playing the NL West means the Cubs face the Los Angeles Angels this year in addition to the Los Angeles Dodgers. And when it comes to Series She-Views, Los Angeles is the greatest baseball city on Earth. Name a hot chick. Just do it. Boom – she’s got a Los Angeles connection.

Of course, with that wide range of available options comes a great deal of responsibility.

So I’ve tried to pick not only a woman who’s beautiful, but also truly has a solid Los Angeles Angels connection. She was born and raised in the City of Angels, and what do you know, her name even starts with Angel. The one, the only, Angelina Jolie.

It’s a tough match-up, both for the Cubs and for Marisa. Angelina Jolie, like the Angels, knows how to bring her A game and has large breasts. Ok, maybe that second part isn’t quite as applicable to the Angels. We’ll go with a face match-up, because who wants to see these women’s bodies anyway?

Versus