ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Back when the 2016 major league schedule was announced, any rational baseball fan likely would have looked at three-game series Sept. 9-11 between the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers as pivotal to the American League West race.As it stands now, however, the Rangers hold a comfortable 8 1/2-game lead in the West, while the Angels have long since been reduced to playing spoiler, mixing and matching young players and veterans who are trying to make a good impression on club officials for next year and beyond.The Friday starting pitchers for the two clubs are similar, though. Both are Tommy John surgery survivors who missed all of the 2015 season and part of this season.Texas right-hander Yu Darvish, who also battled shoulder troubles this year, is 5-4 with a 3.45 ERA in 13 starts. Los Angeles left-hander Tyler Skaggs, who didnt make his season debut until July 26, is 3-3 with a 4.71 ERA in eight starts.Darvish is coming off his shortest outing of the season, when he lasted just four innings and gave up five runs and seven hits in a 7-6 loss to the Houston Astros on Sunday.I felt very good going into the game, he said. I think I was feeling well, so I have to tip the hats to their offense today. Command-wise, I didnt feel as bad as I did the last time I struggled. The bloopers, the ground balls found a way. We put the shift on and it went through it. Its just one of those things. I didnt think I was that bad.Darvish is 7-2 with a 4.00 ERA in 12 career starts against the Angels.Skaggs, meanwhile, seems to be finding a rhythm. He is coming off back-to-back victories over the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners in which he gave up three runs in 12 total innings.For Skaggs, the life on his fastball seems to be improving, according to Angels manager Mike Scioscia, and he continues to develop his changeup.In three career starts against Texas, Skaggs is 2-1 with a 7.90 ERA.Skaggs will benefit from the return to the lineup of designated hitter Albert Pujols and center fielder Mike Trout. Both got a day off for rest on Wednesday and then another day with Thursdays scheduled day off.Trout has finished first or second in AL Most Valuable Player voting in each of his four full seasons and will get votes again this year, though playing for a team near the bottom of the division will hurt his chances. Even his own manager said recently that he didnt think players on a last-place team should win the MVP.The Angels arent in last, but they are close enough to hurt Trout despite his lofty numbers going into the series: .323 average, 27 homers, 88 RBI, 24 stolen bases, 109 runs (tied for the AL lead), .442 on-base percentage (best in majors).Trout has hit Darvish well, batting .294 (10-for-34) with four homers, a double, six RBI and six walks against him.Pujols also has put up big numbers this season, his 110 RBI among the leagues leaders. It is his highest RBI total since he had 118 in 2010 while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.Its fun anytime Albert hits a home run, anytime he gets an RBI or an extra-base hit, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said recently. Every time something happens, hes in some conversation with the all-time greats.One of the hottest Texas hitters of late is Carlos Gomez, who has been with the club only a couple of weeks following his release from the Astros. He hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat as a Ranger, struggled through an 0-for-18 stretch but has nine hits in his past 24 at-bats as he settles in to his new surroundings.Its the best thing that could happen to me, Gomez told MLB.com about joining the Rangers. Seeing the energy here, a new opportunity has been given to me. It has been really good. This team is like family. Youre supposed to be here by 3 oclock, but everybody is here by 1 because it is so much fun. Air Force 1 Low Pas Cher . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Nike Air Force 1 Low Soldes . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.siteairforce1pascher.fr/ . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Air Force 1 Shell Pas Cher . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Air Force 1 Just Do It Orange Pas Cher . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says Renault still has an estimated deficit of around 47bhp to Mercedes, but is confident the French manufacturer can close the gap.Renault has struggled for performance since the introduction of new engine regulations in 2014, with a clear deficit in power to Mercedes for three seasons running. The French manufacturer made big steps forward over the winter and with an update at the Monaco Grand Prix, but Horner says the overall power deficit is still estimated to be as much as 35 kilowatts (roughly 47bhp).I think that Renault have made some great steps, we know that theres more in the pipeline and I think theres definitely more to come and its how it works in harmony with the chassis, he said.dddddddddddd I think we know that we are 35 kilowatts behind, thats what the Renault guys tell us, and we know the plans they have in place to close that gap down.Renault revealed in Hungary that it would not introduce any more Monaco-sized updates this year, but Horner says there is plenty more performance to be extracted from the current package.Well we have some fuel and some tuning and drivability that there is definitely performance to come from. Were quite confident that theyll still be some steps of performance by tidying up what we actually have. ' ' '