Angels at Indians
The Los Angeles Angels carry the weight of having lost 20 of their last 27 on the road heading into a ballpark that has been home to their personal house of horrors. With Mike Trout's availability in question, the Angels (54-46) aim to snap a 10-game losing skid at Progressive Field on Friday when they open a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians (59-48).
"I caught my hand. Kind of weird. Felt like I just jammed it pretty bad," Trout said of his right wrist contusion after sitting out Thursday afternoon's 4-2 setback to Tampa Bay. Fellow slugger Albert Pujols is 12-for-35 with five extra-base hits (four doubles, homer) and five runs scored during an eight-game hitting streak, although is 0-for-8 with two strikeouts versus Friday starter Mike Clevinger. While Los Angeles has yielded 27 runs during its four-game slide, Cleveland has permitted just 13 en route to winning five of its last seven. Jose Ramirez answered a pronounced 0-for-16 stretch by going 7-for-12 with two homers, four RBIs and two runs scored as the Indians took two of three at Minnesota.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Jaime Barria (6-7, 3.74 ERA) vs. Indians RH Mike Clevinger (7-7, 3.43)
Barria snapped a stretch of six straight losing decisions and posted his first win since June 1 on Saturday after allowing two runs on five hits in six innings of an 11-5 victory versus Seattle. The 22-year-old rookie surrendered a pair of homers in that contest and has been taken deep 10 times in his last eight outings. Barria will be making his 16th start of the season and first of his career against the Angels.
Clevinger fell to 0-4 with a 4.94 ERA over his last four starts despite permitting two runs on five hits in as many innings of a 2-1 setback at Detroit. The 27-year-old yielded four hits over 5 1/3 frames of a 6-0 win over the Angels on April 2 to improve to 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA against the team that selected him in the 2011 June draft. Andrelton Simmons has gotten his licks in against Clevinger, however, going a robust 6-for-8.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland SS Francisco Lindor has reached base 15 times in his last eight games.
2. Los Angeles OF Justin Upton has 13 hits and seven runs scored in his last seven contests.
3. The Indians are just 12-17 against AL West representatives this season while the Angels are 15-10 versus the AL Central.