Angels at Athletics
The Los Angeles Angels look to ride the momentum of their comeback win to another victory Wednesday as they continue their four-game series against the host Oakland Athletics. Los Angeles trailed 6-4 in the ninth inning Tuesday before Danny Espinosa belted a three-run homer with one out to give the club its first triumph of 2017.
The blast was the first hit as a member of the Angels for Espinosa, who hit a career-high 24 home runs last season for Washington. Oakland staged a comeback of its own Tuesday, plating four runs in the seventh inning to grab a 6-4 lead, and believed it would begin the season with two straight wins. Jed Lowrie came out of the gate swinging as he is 5-for-8 over the first two games of the series and finished a triple shy of the cycle Tuesday. Khris Davis, who turned on the power in the season opener with a pair of homers, had an outage in the loss as he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), NBC Sports California (Oakland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Garrett Richards (2016: 1-3, 2.34 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Jharel Cotton (2016: 2-0, 2.15)
Richards makes his first start since May 1 because of an elbow injury but elected to receive a stem-cell injection rather than undergo Tommy John surgery. The 28-year-old Californian pitched well before his season ended, allowing fewer than three earned runs in each of his last five outings. Richards is 2-4 with a 4.53 ERA in 14 career games (10 starts) against the Athletics.
Cotton made a good first impression on Oakland last season after being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers, yielding one earned run in each of his first four starts. The 25-year-old native of the Virgin Islands limited opponents to a .185 batting average and issued only four walks while recording 23 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. Cotton made his major-league debut against the Angels on Sept. 7, allowing one run and two hits over 6 1/3 frames en route to a victory.
EXTRA BASES
1. Athletics RHP Sonny Gray (right lat strain) came away from a 25-pitch bullpen session unscathed Tuesday and will throw again Friday.
2. Angels C Martin Maldonado put his arm on display Tuesday, throwing out a potential base stealer at second base while picking off another runner at first from his knees.
3. Oakland 3B Trevor Plouffe is 3-for-10 with two home runs against Richards.