Braves at Angels
The Los Angeles Angels will be holding their breath on the status of superstar Mike Trout as they begin a three-game interleague series with the visiting Atlanta Braves on Monday. Trout suffered a sprained thumb stealing second base in Sunday's 9-2 loss at Miami as the Angels finished a 4-6 road trip.
"A scary thing," Trout told reporters. "Hopefully, it's just sore and just jammed, a bad jam. I'm obviously bummed out, but Monday if it feels a little better, we'll see how it goes." Trout is tied for the major league lead in home runs with 16 and tops all batters in OPS (1.203), so the club hopes he can avoid the disabled list. The Braves hope to take advantage of Trout's potential absence after losing four of their last five, the latest setback a 7-1 defeat at San Francisco on Sunday. Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran has been excellent on the road (2-0, 0.71 ERA) and he will try to keep that trend alive opposite veteran Ricky Nolasco.
TV: 9:07 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), FSN West (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Julio Teheran (3-4, 4.88 ERA) vs. Angels RH Ricky Nolasco (2-4, 4.37)
Teheran has struggled in brand new SunTrust Park, although he yielded only three unearned runs in six frames of a no-decision against Pittsburgh at home Wednesday. He has lasted at least six innings in each of his four road appearances and has yet to serve up a home run away from home. The 26-year-old, who has never faced the Angels, is 3-9 with a 5.63 ERA in 15 interleague starts.
Nolasco has finished at least six frames in four consecutive outings, although he surrendered a season high-tying five runs in a loss at Tampa Bay on Wednesday. The California native gave up three long balls in that contest and opponents have gone deep 16 times against Nolasco, the second-highest total in the American League entering Sunday. Nolasco, 34, is 6-10 with a 5.11 ERA in 24 games (23 starts) against Atlanta.
WALK-OFFS
1. Angels 1B Albert Pujols (hamstring) sat Sunday and remains three home runs shy of 600 for his career.
2. Braves 2B Brandon Phillips left Sunday's game in the fifth inning after fouling a ball off his knee.
3. Los Angeles C Martin Maldonado has two of his four home runs this season in the past three games.