The Los Angeles Angels travel to Dodger Stadium to face the L.A. Dodgers in a two-game Freeway Series matchup with both clubs looking to rebound from their recent struggles.
Although the Dodgers sit atop the National League West with a 37-23 record, they are just 4-6 in their last 10 games and they have lost nine of their last 13 games. For a club as talented as they are, it’s been a frustrating stretch that prompted manager Dave Roberts to call them out for their lack of a team-focused mindset.
But for as bad as the Dodgers have played recently, the Angels have been even worse with a franchise-record 14-game losing streak that caused the firing of manager Joe Maddon after a hot start to the season.
This made the Angels the third team in history to be 10 or more games over .500 and have a losing streak of 10 or more games to fall below .500, taking them from what seemed to be a near-lock for the playoffs to the outside looking in. They enter the series with a record of 29-33.
Thankfully for the Angels, Anthony Rendon returned from his wrist injury last week and Taylor Ward is expected to return in this series. Both are key bats in their lineup and their returns could help them turn their season around.
Game 1: 7:10 p.m. PT
The Angels hand the ball to Noah Syndergaard, who is coming off of a solid outing against the Boston Red Sox where he gave up just one earned run and five hits over six innings.
Syndergaard is looking to rebound from a brutal month of May that saw opposing hitters post a .313 batting average against. In 23.1 innings, he surrendered 14 earned runs and only struck out 16. On the season, Syndergaard carries a 4-4 record and 3.69 ERA over 46.1 innings.
The Dodgers counter with Tony Gonsolin, who is in the midst of a breakout season with an MLB-leading 1.58 ERA to go along with a 7-0 record, 3.21 FIP and 0.86 WHIP.
Gonsolin has completed at least six innings in each of his last five starts, dating back to May 16. In that stretch, he has allowed a .146 batting average to opposing hitters.
Game 2: 7:10 p.m. PT
In the second and final game, a pair of left-handers at different stages of their career will face off in Reid Detmers and Tyler Anderson.
Detmers, who is pitching his first full season at the Major League level, has been somewhat inconsistent throughout the season, but over his last seven appearances, he’s posted a 2.92 ERA in 37 innings of work. However, he has not pitched deep into many games, which could force Nevin to go to his bullpen early.
Detmers is coming off back-to-back outings where he allowed no earned runs, but each has been just 4.1 innings pitched.
Anderson, who is pitching in his seventh Major League season, is having his best one to date. Across 11 appearances (nine starts), the veteran has posted a 3.07 ERA, which has been somewhat inflated by two outings where he allowed a combined 11 runs in nine innings.
Other than his two poor starts, he has allowed two runs or less in each of his outings. Anderson also had a 26 innings scoreless streak that ended his last time out against the White Sox, which was one of his two bad games as he only lasted three innings and allowed four runs.
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