The Los Angeles Angels open up a three-game road series against the Kansas City Royals, which are tied for the worst record in MLB with the Philadelphia Phillies at 8-17.
The Los Angeles Angels are hanging around a tight American League West division and are just one-and-a-half games back from first place while being two games under .500.
The Angels got a much-needed win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday after another brilliant start from ace right-hander José Soriano and a good day for the offense as the Halos overpowered the Blue Jays 7-3.
Soriano threw five shutout innings and allowed just seven hits while striking out four. He is on an incredible run right now and although this was the first outing that he failed to record the win due to the bullpen surrendering three runs in the seventh, the 27-year-old is 5-0 with an insane 0.24 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 43 strikeouts across 37.2 innings pitched.
After the bullpen gave up the lead, first baseman Nolan Schanuel drove in three runs with a double in the bottom half of the inning to take a 6-3 lead before infielder Vaughn Grissom added another run on a single.
It was a historic day for center fielder Mike Trout, who drilled a 428-foot home run in the fifth inning. That extra-base hit marked the 796th of his career, tying the late Garret Anderson for the most in franchise history.
The Halos were losers of four straight prior to salvaging the series, and have a great chance to at least take two of three from the worst team in the AL, the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals are 8-17 entering play on Friday, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the worst record in Major League Baseball, and its offense has been shallow all season long outside of shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and catcher Carter Jensen’s contributions.
The pitching matchup for the opener will be a battle of the lefties, as the Angels will send Yusei Kikuchi to face the Royals’ Noah Cameron. Both guys have had a rough go to start the season, but Kikuchi has been tinkering with his mechanics with hopes of improvement.
Kikuchi, the team’s lone All-Star in 2025, is 0-2 with a 5.63 ERA and 1.63 WHIP, but had a great outing his last time out against the San Diego Padres. The veteran southpaw threw six four-hit innings without allowing a run while walking just one and striking out eight, his first scoreless appearance of the season.
Cameron had two strong starts to begin the season but was tagged for five runs by the Chicago White Sox, surrendering six hits and two walks with four strikeouts, and seven runs (five earned) by the New York Yankees on seven hits and two walks while fanning three during his last trip to the mound.
The promising 26-year-old is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA and 1.45 WHIP through 20 innings.
First pitch is at 4:40 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.