Milwaukee @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Mar 18, 2024 ) LA Angels 3, Milwaukee 4
The Los Angeles Angels are 5-5 over their past 10 games as they start a three-game home series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday in Anaheim, Calif.
But a look behind the numbers shows why the Angels are far from a .500 team, sitting with a .394 winning percentage 71 games into the season, with only the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics having fewer wins in the American League.
Over the past 10 games, the Angels were outscored 67-45. Their run differential of minus-74 on the season is exceeded in the AL by only baseball's worst team, the White Sox (minus-155) and A's (minus-92).
A pair of bats soon will be back in Anaheim, however, with the return of veterans Brandon Drury and Miguel Sano from injury.
Drury, in his 10th major league season, is a career .251 hitter with 106 homers and 366 RBIs. Off to a slow start, he was hitting just .173 when he went on the injured list with a nagging hamstring injury. He hasn't played since May 8.
Sano is in his first season with the Angels after eight with the Minnesota Twins. He was an unsigned free agent in 2023 who never found a team and spent the season on his conditioning. He hasn't played since April 26 because of knee pain but was batting .262 with a home run and five RBIs in the first 21 games of the season.
Manager Ron Washington appears to be running out of patience with his team's lack of production.
"We need those guys; don't get me wrong," Washington said about Drury and Sano, per the Orange County Register. "But they've got to come and perform. If they decide to come here and they struggle performing, then I'm gonna judge how they handle themselves, the presence whether they can still show these guys how to go out there and be a pro even though they're not performing. But if they don't perform and they're not showing these kids how to handle not performing, then they're gonna be on the bench. It's that simple."
Brewers manager Pat Murphy doesn't have those same troubles.
Milwaukee enters the week 6 1/2 games up in the National League Central and has a run differential of plus-63 on the season. That puts the Brewers in elite company in the NL, trailing only fellow division leaders Los Angeles Dodgers (plus-101) and Philadelphia Phillies (plus-96).
The Brewers begin their seven-game road trip - they'll also play four in San Diego against the Padres - as winners of three straight series. Milwaukee defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on Sunday.
The final play of the game was marred by a potential injury to catcher William Contreras, who tagged out Cincinnati's Stuart Fairchild on a play at the plate. Contreras was hit by a forearm to the head and was scheduled to be evaluated for a concession after the game.
"You take a hit like that, you're a sitting duck and your head gets snapped," Murphy said, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Who knows. Hopefully he doesn't have a concussion."
Right-hander Jose Soriano (4-5, 3.48 ERA) is scheduled to be on the mound for the Angels and will make his 13th start (15th appearance) of the season. He's coming off an eight-inning, two-run appearance on Wednesday in an 8-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has never faced the Brewers.
Right-hander Carlos Rodriguez (0-1, 4.91) will make his second start for Milwaukee, following his major league debut last Tuesday. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings in a 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
--Field Level Media