Already officially eliminated from the playoff race with 16 games to go, the Los Angeles Angels may not appear to have a lot to play for as they finish up a nine-game Eastern road trip with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals beginning Friday night.
That would be wrong, however.
Los Angeles (56-90) needs to go at least 7-9 down the stretch to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history. Additionally, the Angels — coming off just their second road series win since the All-Star break after taking two out of three at Boston — are in a dogfight with the Colorado Rockies (55-91) for the worst record in baseball.
Los Angeles also still has a chance to catch the fourth-place Athletics (59-88) in the American League West with a strong finish.
A series against a Washington team that’s lost seven straight games could help that cause.
Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 4.96 ERA) picked up his first win in almost a year in his last start at Pittsburgh on Saturday. In the series opener, he will try to win back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 4 and 9 of last year.
Kikuchi, sidelined almost four months with left shoulder inflammation, scattered five hits over six shutout innings in a 6-1 victory over the Pirates. He walked three and struck out six. He induced 14 swings-and-misses, one off his season high.
“Yusei was awesome,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He attacked the zone, he got to two strikes a lot, and the velo was there. It was even ticking up a bit. Everything was positive.”
Kikuchi, an All-Star in 2025, is in the second year of a three-year, $63.7 million contract he signed as a free agent in November 2024, so a strong finish would be something to build on for the 35-year-old southpaw heading into the final year of his contract.
Kikuchi is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in one career start against Washington, which came in 2024 when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The recent skid for Washington (67-81) has sent the Nationals to the bottom of the National League East, two games behind the New York Mets.
The Nationals went 0-6 on their recent California road trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres — despite leading in the seventh inning or later in three of those games.
“Look, we’ve been going through a stretch, obviously, where things have not gone our way,” said Nationals manager Blake Butera, who was ejected in the third inning of Washington’s 9-2 loss on Wednesday for arguing a check-swing call on San Diego’s Ty France.
“I thought France swung. I thought that was a big spot in the game. … I just wanted to stand up for the guys.”
In the larger sense, Washington is 13-29 since July 27, falling to the brink of playoff elimination, which could occur in this weekend’s series.
Right-hander Cade Cavalli (12-5, 3.12), who has developed into the team’s ace, makes his first career appearance against the Angels. The 2020 first-round pick out of Oklahoma is 8-1 with a 2.36 ERA in his last 15 starts.
–Field Level Media
