Angels at Mariners
Every team goes through its fair share of peaks and valleys over the course of a major-league baseball season, but the Los Angeles Angels did their best to pack it all into the first month of the season. After a rollercoaster April, the Angels hope to continue their recent success following their first off-day in three weeks Tuesday when they visit the American League West rival Seattle Mariners for the opener of a three-game set.
Los Angeles used a sweep of Seattle from April 7-9 to open the season 6-2 - its best eight-game start in 43 years - before dropping 10 of 12 to quickly go from division leader to 5 1/2 games behind Houston in the West. The Angels got back on track last week, sweeping Oakland at home and winning two of three in Texas over the weekend to cap off a 6-1 stretch to end last month. Los Angeles' recent run figures to get its stiffest test Tuesday, however, as Seattle's James Paxton has held the opposition scoreless in four of his first five outings. The Mariners capped a mostly forgettable first month of the season Sunday by wrapping up a 4-6 road trip through Oakland, Detroit and Cleveland with a 12-4 loss to the Indians.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), ROOT (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Matt Shoemaker (1-1, 4.73 ERA) vs. Mariners LH James Paxton (3-0, 1.39)
Shoemaker notched his first victory of the season Wednesday versus the Athletics, allowing two runs on seven hits and a pair of walks over five innings. The Eastern Michigan product did not give up a homer for the first time in 2017 in that outing, has struck out 20 in 17 1/3 innings over his last three appearances and permitted two runs or fewer four times, but he has managed only one quality start. Shoemaker's worst effort of the season came against Seattle on April 9, when he was tagged for seven runs (six earned) in 4 1/3 frames.
After surrendering his first five runs of the season at Oakland on April 20, Paxton regained his dominant form Wednesday at Detroit - yielding only four hits while fanning nine across seven scoreless innings to win for the third time in his last four turns. The 28-year-old Canadian permitted no more than four hits in his four scoreless outings, and he has posted a 39:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the season while also not allowing a homer. Paxton allowed one unearned run in 8 1/3 innings to earn a victory in his only start versus the Angels last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Angels RF Kole Calhoun is 9-for-23 with four multi-hit efforts over his last five games, while CF Mike Trout is batting .415 during his 14-game hitting streak - one shy of matching the longest of his career.
2. Seattle DH Nelson Cruz has homered in five of his last six games and is batting .388 with 14 runs scored, 12 extra-base hits (seven home runs), 21 RBIs and 12 walks during his 19-game on-base streak.
3. Los Angeles' starting pitchers have not allowed more than two earned runs in 14 of the last 16 contests.