Indians at Angels
The Los Angeles Angels need a stopper and will look to their newest
acquisition in hopes of turning their season around. The Angels, who
have lost five of their last six games - the last two by Jered Weaver
and C.J. Wilson - will give the ball to Zack Greinke when they host the
Cleveland Indians on Tuesday in the second of their three-game series.
Los Angeles is 3-9 in August and 12-18 since the All-Star break and has
fallen 2 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the final wild card
spot. Greinke has yet to get comfortable in his new surroundings since
being acquired from Milwaukee on July 28. He is 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in
three starts with the Angels - all Los Angeles losses.
Angels rookie phenom Mike Trout is 2-for-11 in his last three games,
which constitutes a slump for the American League's leading hitter at
.340. Teammate Albert Pujols, though, broke out of a 1-for-23 funk by going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in Monday's
6-2 loss. Los Angeles will face Cleveland's Ubaldo Jimenez, who won for
the first time in six starts in his last outing when he struck out a
season-high 10 against the Red Sox. The Indians are 4-2 since an 11-game
losing streak knocked them out of playoff contention.
TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), FS West (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Ubaldo Jimenez (9-11, 5.25 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (0-1, 5.68)
Jimenez allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings in Cleveland's
5-3 victory over Boston on Thursday. That followed two starts - both
losses - in which he yielded 11 runs and 13 hits in 11 2/3 innings. Jimenez is 0-2 against the Angels, including a 3-0 loss
to Jered Weaver on July 2. He is 4-8 with a 6.94 ERA on the road this
season. The Angels' roster is hitting .276 against Jimenez with Pujols 5-for-17 with five RBIs and four walks. He
has not faced Trout, who didn't play July 2 because of a jammed right
pinky finger.
Greinke allowed four runs, six hits and walked five in five innings and
left with a no-decision in Los Angeles' 9-8 loss at Oakland on
Wednesday. His previous start was worse, when he yielded six runs and 10 hits in seven innings in an 8-6 setback at
Chicago on Aug. 3. Greinke was 9-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 21 starts with
Milwaukee prior to the trade. He is 8-9 in 27 games (22 starts) with a 3.80 ERA against Cleveland. Asdrubal Cabrera is
15-for-31 with three doubles, a triple and five walks against Greinke.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Indians' Brent Lillibridge has homered in two of his last three
games after going homerless in 89 contests with the Chicago White Sox,
Boston and Cleveland this season.
2. Angels OF Mark Trumbo, who is tied for fifth in the majors and the AL with 29 homers, has two in his last 20 games.
3. Cleveland RHP Vinnie Pestano had his scoreless streak end at 21 1/3
innings when he yielded Pujols' homer Monday. It was the longest streak
by an Indians reliever since Paul Assenmacher (23 1/3) in 1997.