The Los Angeles Angels scratched left-hander Reid Detmers on Sunday after dealing against the New York Yankees his last time out.
The Los Angeles Angels were able to end the San Diego Padres’ winning streak at eight games during their series opener but scored just one run in each of the final two games to lose the series.
San Diego broke out in the final two innings to take game two of the series 4-1 before Padres right-hander Michael King threw five shutout innings and combined with the bullpen to allow just two total hits in a 2-1 win over the Angels.
The offense wasn’t there for what feels like a while as the Angels have been hot offensively, especially in the power department. The last two games, the Angels combined to score two runs, but Los Angeles took the opener handily with an 8-0 rout.
The Halos have been giving its fans a lot to cheer about despite being a game below .500 (11-12) and are looking to get back to that mark against the struggling Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night as the two teams open up a three-game set in Anaheim.
After being scratched last night in favor of 22-year-old right-hander Walbert Urena, who pitched 6+ innings and allowed two runs in his first career Major League Baseball start, left-hander Reid Detmers will toe the slab for the Angels against the Blue Jays’ biggest offseason acquisition, right-hander Dylan Cease.
Detmers was given an extra day of rest after tossing seven innings and allowing one run on four hits with nine strikeouts in the team’s 7-1 win over the New York Yankees last week. Considering how many pitchers are getting shelved with injuries in the early going, giving one of your top pitchers an extra day to reset isn’t a bad idea at all.
Detmers has another chance to dominate an American League East opponent as the Blue Jays have struggled to generate offense for the most part, but he can’t take the team lightly.
Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Blue Jays to kick off the offseason, hasn’t factored into a decision yet but has pitched well to begin his tenure with Toronto.
Cease hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his four starts and was excellent his last time out, throwing six scoreless innings and allowing two hits and three walks while punching out six against the Milwaukee Brewers. He has a 1.74 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 32 strikeouts through 20.2 innings this season.
Cease also hasn’t allowed a home run yet this year but today could be the day as the Angels have hit 34 homers this season, the second-most in MLB.
First pitch is at 6:38 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.