The Los Angeles Angels enter play on Tuesday having dropped its last three games, including the series opener against the struggling Toronto Blue Jays.
The Los Angeles Angels will try to get back in the win column after dropping the final two games of its series against the San Diego Padres and the series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler kicked off the scoring in the first inning, driving in first baseman Nolan Schanuel with a single. Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit just his second home run of the season in the third inning, a two-run shot that gave Toronto a 2-1 lead before Schanuel hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning to even up the score.
It was all Blue Jays the rest of the way, though, as Toronto pushed across runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to take the opener 5-2. Right-hander Dylan Cease struck out 12 Angels and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings to earn his first win of the season, while left-hander Reid Detmers was on the hook for the loss after giving up four runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts over six innings of work.
The Angels will turn to right-hander Jack Kochanowicz to battle Blue Jays lefty Patrick Corbin in the pivotal second game.
Kochanowicz has been solid since allowing six runs (five earned) against the Houston Astros his first time out, pitching 19.1 innings and allowing four runs on 10 hits and 10 walks with 15 strikeouts over his last three outings.
Corbin has made two starts for the Blue Jays, whose starting rotation has been bitten by the injury bug. The veteran left-hander was touched up by the Minnesota Twins in his first outing, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts, but bounced back with a brilliant start against the Milwaukee Brewers: 5.2 innings, four hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts.
At 11-13, the Angels have been an interesting team to watch; the Angels are hitting and the offense is firing on all cylinders on one day, then cold and struggling to score runs the next. The same goes for the pitching staff, creating a fun but inconsistent and streaky team.
And yet, this is the most exciting Angels team in recent memory. This team probably won’t be in contention for the playoffs, but the American League is wide open and there is plenty of time for the Halos to make noise this season. The Angels currently sit in third place of the AL West, just 1.5 games back from the first-place Athletics.
First pitch is at 6:38 p.m. PDT on ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV and regional sports networks.