After taking two of three from the Tigers over the weekend, the Orioles are set to hit the West Coast and take on the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game set before heading up to the Bay Area for a three-game stay in Oakland.
The Orioles (8-20) will be feeling good after notching their first home series win of the season against Detroit, but will be looking for their first series win on the road since they took three of four from the Yankees during the first weekend of April. They’ve been swept in back-to-back series on the road since and carry a six-game road losing streak into sunny California as a result.
The Angels (16-12) haven’t been in the best of form since posting a franchise-best 13-3 mark over the first sixteen games of 2018. They’ve gone just 3-9 over their last twelve contests and will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak after getting swept at home versus the visiting Yankees. On the year, the Angels have gone just 5-10 at home and have lost eight of their last nine games at Angel Stadium.
Alex Cobb (0-3, 13.11 ERA) will take the mound against Nick Tropeano (1-2, 4.67 ERA) in tonight’s series opener.
Cobb was tagged again during his home debut against the Rays and allowed five runs on ten hits over just 4 2/3 innings en route to his third straight loss. Cobb hasn’t been at it to begin his tenure as an Oriole and has allowed five-plus runs on ten-plus hits while failing to go five innings in each of his first three starts.
Tropeano took the loss after giving up four runs over 5 1/3 innings versus Houston in his latest outing, and will be looking to avoid a third straight subpar start. After shutting out the Royals over 6 2/3 innings during his season debut, he’s allowed nine runs over 10 2/3 innings since.
Dylan Bundy (1-3, 2.97 ERA) will take on Andrew Heany (0-1, 6.91 ERA) in Saturday’s contest.
Bundy was drilled for a career-high eight runs (seven earned) over 4 2/3 innings during his latest outing against the Rays, and will be looking to bounce back in California. Bundy had allowed just five earned runs over 31 2/3 innings prior to his last start. He finished the month of April with a 1-3 record and a 3.68 ERA over five starts (remember, he had a start in March).
Heany was impressive during his last outing and allowed just one run on five hits over five innings against the Yankees while striking out nine. He’ll be looking for more of the same against the Orioles after previously allowing ten runs over his first 9 1/3 innings this season.
The Angels haven’t announced who will take on Chris Tillman (1-4, 7.03 ERA) in Sunday’s series finale, but it will not be Shohei Ohtani, who is dealing with a minor ankle sprain and will miss his next scheduled start on Friday. However, he is expected to be in the line-up this weekend.
Tillman was excellent against the Tigers and allowed just one hit over seven sparkling shutout innings en route to his first win since May 7th, 2017. The streak of 22 straight starts without a win is finally over for the Orioles veteran hurler.
Notes:
— Manny Machado remains the only Orioles hitter in-form through the first month of the season. The O’s star shortstop has gone 7-for-15 with a homer and five RBI during his current four-game hitting streak, and is hitting a phenomenal .444 (16-for-36) with six home runs and twelve RBI over his last ten games.
— Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons (.312, 3 HR, 15 RBI) comes into the weekend in fine form and has gone 6-for-15 with two home runs and seven RBI over the course of his four-game hit streak.
— Angels superstar Mike Trout (.291, 10 HR, 18 RBI) is on fire at the moment, and on top of owning an AL-best ten home runs this season, he’s also hitting .345 with four homers and five RBI over his last nine games.
— Future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols is in-line to become the 32nd member of the ‘’ 3,000 hit club’’ against the Orioles. He is currently just four hits shy of hitting the legendary mark, so hopefully we get to witness history this weekend. When it happens, Pujols will also join Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Alex Rodriguez as the fourth member of the ‘’3,000 hit/ 600 Home Run’’ club. Simply incredible.
That’s all for now, folks!
Here’s to a few in the win column.
