Angels Hope Urena Can Help Them Bounce Back Against Nats

The Los Angeles Angels took a tough loss against the Washington Nationals last night, 4-3, but they’ll try to bounce back today with rookie right-hander Walbert Urena on the mound against Andrew Alvarez for the Nats. 

Urena has been outstanding throughout the season, but he is on a tear after undergoing a brief rough stretch and suffering the inevitable bad start against the Cleveland Guardians back on Aug. 25. He’s given up just one run in each of his last two starts, though, going eight innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates last Sunday and seven frames before that against a tough New York Yankees lineup. 

Support will likely be the issue today, as the Angels rarely get more than three runs, with last night’s loss being a perfect example. He did get ten runs against New York, however, in a rare Angels win, and his overall record now stands at 9-10 with an ERA of 2.74 to go with a WHIP of 1.21. 

Alvarez has made a total of 14 starts this season, and he’s 2-6 with an ERA of 3.35, so the ERA indicates he might not be an easy pitching matchup for the Angels, although you could argue that no pitching matchup is a good one for the Halos given their anemic lineup. 

But Alvarez lately might be a better chance given the way he’s been pitching for the struggling Nats. He gave up four earned runs in 4-1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his last start, and three runs in 4-2/3 against the Colorado Rockies two starts before that. 

The Angels will also be looking for more from Mike Trout after last night’s solo home run to open the game, as it’s been quite some time since Trout hit one out. The blast came off Washington starter Cade Cavalli and ended a 27-game home run drought for the Angels slugger, and it’s no coincidence that his power outage has coincided with the Halos’ inability to score runs. 

Both teams are currently buried in last place in their respective divisions, but the Nats have a better chance to escape their situation. They picked up a game on the New York Mets last night with the win, and they’re now a game behind the Mets, two in the loss column. The Mets have spent most of their season in the NL East basement, so the Nats would like to make sure their stay replacing the Mets is a brief one.