BALTIMORE — The resilient Los Angeles Angels can finish a three-game sweep of the struggling Baltimore Orioles on Sunday at Camden Yards.
Los Angeles won the opener 7-1 on Friday and beat the Orioles 6-2 on a sweltering Saturday afternoon.
The Angels entered the series on a six-game losing streak http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-donte-jackson-jersey , but will leave Baltimore very much alive in the American League wild-card race.
On Saturday, Mike Scioscia managed his 3,000th regular-season game for the Angels, not that he has kept count.
“You don’t think about it,” said Scioscia, who has been with the club since 2000 and is 1,613-1,387 (.538 winning percentage). “It’s 3,000, one game at a time.”
The Orioles have lost seven straight and fell to 0-15 against AL West opponents. Manager Buck Showalter vows the team will keep fighting and try to find bright spots.
“It’s been tougher on our fans and our players. I don’t look at it that way,” said Showalter, whose team has lost 17 of 18 at home. “All things considered, it’s an unbelievable way to do something you love and be able to pay the bills with it.”
Deck McGuire (0-0, 6.08 ERA) will start for the Angels in place of John Lamb, who had an MRI on his left elbow that revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Lamb will undergo UCL reconstruction surgery in Los Angeles.
The Angels have seven starting pitchers on the disabled list.
As a result, they will be leaning on McGuire to help stabilize the rotation. However, he has made only two previous major league starts among his 12 appearances and has never faced Baltimore.
Los Angeles had a positive development with phenom Shohei Ohtani, who hit in a simulated game Saturday at Angel Stadium. Ohtani has a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. The team is hoping he can avoid Tommy John surgery.
“There definitely be a consensus from the medical staff on how he feels,” Scioscia said. “We’ll see if he has enough velocity to go out there and play.”
Ohtani underwent stem-cell therapy and received a platelet-rich plasma injection to heal a damaged ligament. He was given the OK to begin batting practice Thursday.
Kevin Gausman (3-6, 4.20 ERA) is looking to help pull the Orioles from their doldrums. However http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-rashaan-gaulden-jersey , he lost his last four decisions and has not completed seven innings in any of his last eight starts.
In his last outing, Gausman was solid in earning a no-decision, allowing one run and five hits in six innings of a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners. He was effective managing his pitch count throughout the game.
“That’s huge,” he said. “Kind of seems like that’s what I do every start lately is kind of get in jams the first inning, throw a lot of pitches. It’s always big to kind of bounce back and have a quick inning.”
Gausman is 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA in five starts against the Angels.
Baltimore also received some bad news on the injury front. Reliever Darren O’Day opted to have season-ending surgery on his injured left hamstring. The recovery time is six months, according to Showalter.
O’Day also missed more than a month with a hyperextended elbow. The sidearmer is 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 20 games this season. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list Friday.
Showalter said O’Day has not yet finalized the time and place of the procedure.
MILWAUKEE — Lorenzo Cain will be back in the lineup Tuesday when the Milwaukee Brewers open a two-game interleague set with Cain’s former team, the Kansas City Royals, at Miller Park.
Cain sat out Sunday when the Brewers wrapped up a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a scheduled day off for the veteran center fielder, who ha played every game since May 23 but also a chance for him to rest a nagging groin injury and get two full days off his feet before facing his former team.
The 32-year-old has been everything the Milwaukee Brewers had hoped for when they signed him to a franchise-record $80 million contract during the winter.
Cain is among the team leaders in almost every offensive category this season: hits (71), walks (43), on-base percentage (.394). He is second in doubles (15), batting average (.291) and .OPS (.832).
He also has been something of a workhorse, appearing in 72 games — just one fewer than team leader Travis Shaw — while making 70 starts. He leads the team with 312 plate appearances and 265 at-bats.
“Winning games is the most important part,” Cain said. “It’s still early in the season and we have a long way to go, but winning consistently, winning series, that’s our main goal.”
Shaw should also be back in the lineup. He left Sunday’s game when he tweaked an already-sore right wrist during a third-inning at-bat. He missed two games with the same injury earlier in the week against Pittsburgh but started all four games against St. Louis.
“This is something I’ve been dealing with for a while now and a couple of swings here and there will get it every now and then,” Shaw said. “It’ll be nice to have almost two full days off with the rest of tonight, all of tomorrow and a night game (Tuesday). We’ll see where we’re at then.”
Having those two back and healthy, as well as red-hot slugger Jesus Aguilar http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-billy-price-jersey , who got a break Sunday, will be a relief for rookie right-hander Freddy Peralta.
After making his first three big league starts on the road, Peralta will get a chance to show his talent to the hometown fans for the first time when he takes the mound for the series opener.
“I’m very excited,” Peralta said. “It’s like a dream, pitching in Miller Park.”
His MLB career got off to a memorable start. He struck out 13 in 5 1/3 scoreless innings with his family on hand to watch at Coors Field.
He’s 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA as a big leaguer with the Brewers, winning all three of his starts. Peralta has also struck out 84 batters in 59 innings for Triple-A Colorado Springs this season, going 6-1 with a 2.75 ERA there.
“I know that (major league hitters) are smart, but I just have to pitch the same and believe in myself, trust my ability in making pitches,” Peralta said. “I know they’re better hitters than in the minor leagues, and I just have to make the adjustments, but it’s all the same for me.”
He’ll go up against right-hander Jakub Junis, who has lost his last five starts and hasn’t won since May 18.
Junis has a 6.75 ERA during his losing streak with 24 strikeouts in 24 innings.
“It’s been tough, not only personally, but as a team,” Junis told the Kansas City Star. “We’re grinding through it.
“It’s definitely been a struggle for me. I’ve given up a lot of home runs this year, so I’m very conscious of that. I’m trying to keep it in the ballpark, because when I do, that’s when I have success.”
Kansas City has faced Milwaukee twice this season. They dropped both games of an interleague series in April at Kaufmann Stadium.
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