Los Angeles is 16-27 and has now dropped the first 2 of this set in Cleveland — a 7-2 thumping Monday and a 3-2 grinder Tuesday where Guardians arms racked up 13 strikeouts. Kurt Suzuki's first year managing is going about as smoothly as the rest of the Angels' decade, and GM Perry Minasian has already had to publicly back him through the slide.
Reid Detmers (1-3, 4.33) draws the unenviable assignment of trying to keep the Halos out of the sweep. He went 6+ in his last outing against Toronto but coughed up 4 earned and a 2-run shot to Vlad Jr. The strikeouts are still there — 36 Ks in 33.2 innings — but the long ball has been a problem when he leaves anything up.
On the other side, Parker Messick has been Cleveland's de facto ace as a rookie at 4-1 with a 2.30 ERA. The catch: his last start was the first real bump, 5 innings and 4 earned on 3 homers against the A's on Sunday. Sports Illustrated already framed this one as the "swift response" outing. Whatever soft landing the Angels were hoping for, they probably aren't getting it.
The Angels' injury list reads like a small-college roster: Rendon, Kikuchi, Stephenson, Joyce, Grayson Rodriguez, O'Hoppe, d'Arnaud, Ryan Johnson. Eight names, most of them rotation pieces or back-end bullpen arms they actually need. Cleveland is mostly intact, which only widens the gap on paper.
- 10-Day-ILLogan O'Hoppe C — O'Hoppe (wrist) will begin a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Monday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILTravis d'Arnaud C — The Angels placed d'Arnaud on the 10-day injured list Friday with right foot plantar fasciitis.
- 15-Day-ILBen Joyce RP — Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said Monday that Joyce (shoulder) was scratched from a scheduled rehab appearance Sunday because "he wasn't recovering as fast as we wanted," Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.
- 15-Day-ILGrayson Rodriguez SP — Rodriguez (shoulder) tossed 4.2 innings in a rehab start with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out 11 batters.
- 15-Day-ILRyan Johnson SP — Johnson (hamstring) completed five innings in a rehab outing with Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks while striking out five batters.
- 15-Day-ILYusei Kikuchi SP — Kikuchi (shoulder) will be shut down from throwing for 3-to-4 weeks, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILRobert Stephenson RP — The Angels announced that Stephenson underwent ligament and flexor repair surgery on his right elbow Wednesday and is likely to miss the remainder of the season, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILAnthony Rendon 3B — The Angels placed Rendon (hip) on the 60-day injured list Tuesday.
- Day-To-DayCarlos Hernandez RP — Hernandez (shoulder) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Friday.
- 10-Day-ILGabriel Arias SS — no
- 15-Day-ILShawn Armstrong RP — Armstrong (groin) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Double-A Akron, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILAndrew Walters RP — Walters (lat) was returned from his rehab assignment due to a viral illness, MLB.com reports.
Cleveland sits a game up in the AL Central and just plugged in Patrick Bailey behind the plate after acquiring him from the Giants, with Bo Naylor optioned to Columbus to reset. Chase DeLauter is running a .511 slug and the offense isn't waiting on anyone. Trout is doing Trout things (.414 OBP), but he can't pitch the 4th inning. Take the under at 8.5 and trust Messick to keep the line clean — or bet on the Angels finally catching a body and stealing one before flying home.