Opposite dugout: Even with Trout, Angels have been dreadful on offense

Manager: Mike Scioscia (16th season)

Record: 17-17

Last 10 games: 6-4

Who to watch: RF Kole Calhoun (.314, 18 RBIs), CF Mike Trout (.289/.356/.562 with 9 HR, 19 RBIs, 9 SB), 2B Johnny Giovatella (.284, 13 RBIs), RHP Garrett Richards (3-1, 2.27 ERA), RHP Huston Street (11 saves, 3.07 ERA)

Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (2-4 in 2014)

Pitching probables:

May 15: RHP Jered Weaver vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen, 7:05 p.m., MASN
May 16: RHP Matt Shoemaker vs. RHP Bud Norris, 7:05 p.m., MASN
May 17: RHP Garrett Richards vs. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, 1:35 p.m., MASN

Inside the Angels:

The surprising Astros are one reason why the Angels aren't in first place in the American League West, but the real onus is on the Halos themselves. They've been downright dreadful on offense, and that's no way to repeat as AL West champs. Though the Mariners were the trendy pick to usurp the Angels' claim as the best in the West, the guys from Anaheim have much bigger problems to fix than one opponent that hasn't lived up to expectations and another that's surpassed them.

You'd think a team boasting arguably baseball's most talented player, center fielder Mike Trout, would be a cinch to be a juggernaut with the bat. Trout has certainly done his part, slashing .289/.396/.562 with a team-high nine homers and 19 RBIs, good for a share of the club lead. But the rest of the Angels haven't been pulling their weight. Los Angeles ranks second-to-last in the AL in runs (114), and dead last in hits (255), on-base percentage (.291), slugging percentage (.348) and OPS (.639). Right fielder Kole Calhoun is the only regular with a batting average above .300.

First baseman Albert Pujols (who has six years and $165 million left on his 10-year, $240 million deal) is scuffling along at .231 with five homers and 13 RBIs. Third baseman David Freese's World Series heroics with the Cardinals are a distant memory, and his .218 average, five home runs and 19 RBIs aren't cutting it. When the Angels traded for left fielder Matt Joyce in December, they expected they'd be getting a guy with a little pop and a consistent approach at the plate; instead, they received a confused hitter who is slashing .144/.181/.222 and quickly losing playing time. Outfielder Josh Hamilton relapsed into his drug addictions, reported his transgression, managed to avoid discipline and was jettisoned to the Rangers - despite the fact that they are a divisional rival and only halfway through a five-year, $125 million deal. Think free-spending owner Arte Moreno would like to have some of those decisions back?

Manager Mike Scioscia must be wondering when his offense will wake up - or at least how far youngsters like Trout and Calhoun can carry them. The Angels have always done a good job of finding perfect complementary players - slick-fielding shortstop Erick Aybar and catcher Chris Iannetta are examples - who thrive with the big names around them because they don't have to shoulder much of the burden. That's not been the case this year, at least with a meager offensive attack that's somehow managed to stay within striking distance of the division-leading Astros, who are up by four games six weeks into the season.

The pitching staff has made the 3.72 runs it gets per game go a long way. How? Opponents are slashing .232/.298/.366 against Angels hurlers. The 124 runs they've allowed are the fewest in the AL, and the Halos are in the middle of the pack in most key pitching categories. That begs a question: Have the been lucky to have not fared worse?

The Angels begin a three-city, 10-game trek through a trio of AL East cities - Baltimore, Toronto and Boston - on a high note. They've won three straight and four of five overall. Aybar is on a .416 (15-for-36) tear over his last 10 games, upping his average to .262, and Calhoun is 25-for-102 (.343) with 17 RBIs over his past 27 games. Trout is warming up with the weather, posting three homers in his past seven games. In 27 career games versus Baltimore, Trout has nine homers, 18 RBIs and a .272 average.

Los Angeles, however, will need both hitting and pitching to succeed at Camden Yards. If the bats go silent, that puts more pressure on the arms. If the pitchers can't hold the Orioles in check, the Angels have to score a lot more and hope for the best.

In his 10th season, 6-foot-7 right-hander Jered Weaver is no longer a flamethrower who relies on strikeouts. Trouble it, Friday's starter has not yet morphed into a finesse pitcher, either. But he does boast a repertoire of five pitches, including a fastball that now tops out at 87 mph, and is learning to be more of a pitcher than the thrower that dominated when he was younger. Weaver is coming off his best outing of the season, a six-hit, complete-game shutout of Houston on May 8 in which he fanned a season-high six. That marked his first victory in six starts, and the overall results have not been anything to brag about. This season, left-handers are hitting him at a .313 clip, and opposing hitters have a cumulative .288 average. He's 0-3 with a 6.38 in three road starts, and the early going has been a particular problem. In his first through 15th pitches, foes are slashing .417/.462/.792 off Weaver. Unlike the other starters in this series, Weaver has some history against the Orioles. Overall, he's 7-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 12 career starts. At Camden Yards, he's 2-2 with a 7.09 ERA.

On Saturday, righty Matt Shoemaker will make his first start of 2015 against a non-AL West club. He's coming off his worst performance of the season, when he yielded six runs in three innings against the Astros on May 6. But in his six starts this season, Shoemaker has logged six or more innings three times. He's 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in three road starts this year, but he's allowed a batting average against of .285 overall. The home run ball has been a major issue - he's served up 10 longballs in 31 1/3 innings after allowing only 14 in 136 innings during his 16-win rookie season in 2014. Shoemaker has made one career start against the Orioles, taking the loss and posting a 6.35 ERA. He's a four-pitch pitcher, mixing a fastball that averages 88 mph (59 percent) with a split-finger fastball that dips to an 82 mph average (22 percent). But if Saturday is warm and humid, balls could be flying out toward Eutaw Street just like early speed holds up on the rail in Pimlico, site of the Preakness Stakes.

Sunday's matchup of Angels righty Garrett Richards and Baltimore right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez looks to be the best of the three pitching battles in the weekend series. Though Richards missed the first two weeks of the season while on the disabled list recovering from left knee surgery late last season, he's made up for lost time by being the Halos' most reliable starting pitcher. He's made four straight starts of at least six innings pitched, yielding four earned runs over that span, and is coming off a May 10 start in which he allowed one run on one hit over 6 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. No one is hitting Richards with much success - he's got an overall batting average against of .165 (.169 against lefty swingers and .159 versus right-handers) - and he's been stingy with the home run ball, allowing only one homer in 31 2/3 innings pitched. He'll pitch deep into games, and this season that's the only time opponents have had any sustained success: from his 76th to 90th pitches, foes hit .286 against him. Richards is 0-2 with a 7.31 ERA in six games (two starts) in his career against the Orioles, and 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in three games (one start) at Camden Yards. Richards throws his 97 mph fastball only 7 percent of the time, relying more on a cut fastball that averages 97 mph (57 percent) and an 86 mph slider (33 percent).

The Angels have relied on their bullpen, which has posted a 3.10 ERA and a batting average against of .215, both the fifth-best marks in the AL. Closer Huston Street is 2-1 with 11 saves in 13 chances, a 3.10 ERA and 1.091 WHIP. Street, who functions as his own agent, just negotiated a two-year, $18 million extension through 2017. The 11-year veteran boasts an 86 percent save rate and a lifetime 2.82 ERA, and could have gotten three years easily on the open market.