Los Angeles Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will try to win his third consecutive start Tuesday night as he continues his comeback after missing almost 22 months with injuries against the Colorado Rockies in Anaheim, Calif.
It will be the fourth start of the season and first of his career against the Rockies for Rodriguez (2-1, 7.53 ERA). He will be opposed by right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (4-4, 4.01), who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts against the Angels.
Rodriguez, who opened the season on the injured list with inflammation to his pitching shoulder, comes in off a 7-1 victory at Detroit on Thursday. Against the Tigers, he allowed just two hits, including a second-inning solo homer by Wenzeel Perez, over five innings. He walked two and struck out five, averaging 96.2 mph with his four-seam fastball.
It was the best outing of the season for the 26-year-old Rodriguez, who was obtained in an offseason trade with the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Taylor Ward. He threw 88 pitches, 56 for strikes.
“Definitely taking steps in the right direction,” said Rodriguez, whose 2025 season was lost to right elbow and right lat injuries. “I’m not fully where I want to be yet, but just using these building blocks to keep going, keep pushing forward.”
Rodriguez, a first-round draft pick in 2018, was 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 20 starts in 2024 before being shut down in early August due to his injuries.
“I think he’s consistently been better and better with his execution and things like that,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “It’s nice to see him get better each time he goes out there, velo-wise, pitch execution-wise, and all that stuff.”
Sugano has been one of the bright spots for the Rockies this season. He comes in off a 4-1 road loss to the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers in last Wednesday allowing three runs on six hits, including first-inning solo homers to Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, over 4 2/3 innings.
“Two solo homers in the first inning,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. “It was a fastball away to arguably the best hitter in the world that he hit out of the ballpark. And then Freeman, who’s a pretty dang good hitter, too, you just have top tip your hat to that. After that, I thought Toma settled in nicely. He was a pro, just like he always is. Gave us a chance to win.”
Sugano, 36, won his most recent start against the Angels in Anaheim, 4-1 on May 9, 2025, while pitching for the Orioles. He allowed one run on three hits over 7 1/3 innings with no walks and five strikeouts.
Colorado will be trying for its second straight series victory after rallying to win Monday’s opener, 9-8.
Jose Siri helped give Los Angeles an early 5-2 lead with a third-inning grand slam but the Rockies came back to take a 8-6 lead in the eighth inning on a three-run homer by Hunter Goodman. After the Angels tied it in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run triple by Jorge Soler, TJ Rumfield drove in Kyle Karros with the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
“I thought the boys showed incredible, incredible resilience, bouncing back multiple times and just sticking with it,” Schaeffer said.
–Field Level Media
