Ranger Suarez (4-3, 2.94 ERA) takes the ball for Boston looking to finish off a series sweep, and he's coming off arguably his best month as a Red Sox. The lefty just landed his first All-Star nod since signing his five-year deal in the offseason, and his last start was vintage Suarez: 6 innings, 8 strikeouts, just 1 walk in a win over Washington.
Ryan Johnson gets the ball for the Angels carrying a 7.40 ERA, and the Angels' pitching staff has had almost nothing go right lately. Logan O'Hoppe is banged up behind the plate after taking a shot to the head, and Mike Trout is working his way back from a hamstring strain that's kept the middle of this lineup thin all week. The Angels have also been without Grayson Rodriguez all season, though he's at least stringing together clean rehab innings in Salt Lake.
None of that has mattered much this weekend anyway — Boston's bats have simply overwhelmed whatever Anaheim throws out there, outscoring the Angels 13-3 across the first two games of this set. Willson Contreras and Romy Gonzalez have both gone deep during the stretch, and interim manager Chad Tracy's group has quietly won 7 of its last 9 games after a miserable stretch earlier in the year.
The Angels, meanwhile, are staring down a fifth straight loss and have scored a total of 6 runs across that entire losing streak. Whatever's ailing this lineup isn't new — they've dropped series to Seattle and now Boston without much resistance, and the injury list reads like a team searching for answers at multiple positions.
- 10-Day-ILNick Sogard 3B — Sogard (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment Thursday, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.
- 10-Day-ILIsiah Kiner-Falefa 2B — Kiner-Falefa underwent a CT scan on his left forearm Thursday which revealed a stress reaction, MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILMarcelo Mayer 2B — The Red Sox placed Mayer on the 10-day injured list Friday with a stress reaction in his left forearm, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.
- 15-Day-ILConnelly Early SP — Early (elbow) will seek a second opinion, MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILPatrick Sandoval SP — Sandoval (biceps) is an option to replace Connelly Early (elbow) in Boston's rotation, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
- 60-Day-ILRoman Anthony LF — The Red Sox transferred Anthony (finger/wrist) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Sunday.
- 60-Day-ILGarrett Crochet SP — Crochet (shoulder/lat) has not yet been cleared to resume a throwing program following a scheduled re-evaluation Monday, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
- 60-Day-ILTrevor Story SS — Story (abdomen) has begun jogging and swinging off a tee, MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayLogan O'Hoppe C — O'Hoppe (head) is not in the Angels' starting lineup against the Red Sox on Saturday.
- 10-Day-ILMike Trout CF — Trout (hamstring) took batting practice on the field Saturday and said he could return to the Angels' lineup as soon as Tuesday versus Texas, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.
- 10-Day-ILAdam Frazier 2B — Frazier (elbow) resumed throwing Wednesday, per MLB.com.
- 10-Day-ILSebastian Rivero C — Rivero was removed from Tuesday's game against the Astros with an apparent left hand injury, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILGustavo Campero C — The Angels selected Campero's contract from Double-A Rocket City and placed him on the 10-day injured list Saturday due to a fractured hand.
- 15-Day-ILGrayson Rodriguez SP — Rodriguez (back) allowed one run on four hits while striking out five across 5.1 innings without issuing a walk during his rehab start with Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday.
- 60-Day-ILBen Joyce RP — Joyce (shoulder) faced hitters in a live bullpen session Friday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILTravis d'Arnaud C — D'Arnaud (foot) was able to catch from a pitching machine Sunday and has continued to do swinging and throwing in his workouts, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.
Boston's front office clearly bet right on Suarez, and it's paying off at the worst possible time for the Angels to see him. There's not much reason to expect Anaheim flips the script Sunday night unless Johnson finds something he hasn't shown all season.