The Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles are in adjustment mode after both teams made a rash of trades at the beginning of the week.
They will try to settle in for the middle game of their three-game series Wednesday night in Baltimore.
The Angels and Orioles had new-look lineups on display Tuesday night, and there are bound to be more of those to come.
“There is a world where we do turn it around and really make a step forward,” Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso said while assessing the roster overhaul. “I think obviously you don’t want to be in this situation.”
The Orioles have scored only three runs in their past three games, but all of them came Tuesday during a 3-1 victory in the series opener. Amid the newcomers, holdovers Alonso, with a two-run single, and Tyler O’Neill, with a pinch-hit solo home run, drove in Baltimore’s runs. Still, Baltimore was held to four hits.
The Orioles had left fielder Christian Franklin make his big-league debut on Tuesday. He walked, scored a run and stole a base as part of an 0-for-2 outing one day after he was acquired from the Washington Nationals’ organization.
Catcher Carlos Narvaez, who arrived in the deal that sent All-Star catch Adley Rutschman to the Boston Red Sox, made his Baltimore debut and also finished 0-for-2.
The Angels parted with five players via trades on Monday, and the moves continued on Tuesday when outfielder Jorge Soler was designated for assignment. Now there’s a larger crop of younger players in the mix for Los Angeles.
“But we feel like this is the direction that we’re going right now,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “This is what we have, and we’re excited about this opportunity to move forward.”
Los Angeles had newly acquired catcher Moises Ballesteros, who came from the Chicago Cubs, in the lineup at designated hitter on Tuesday. He went 1-for-4.
Suzuki said veteran Mike Trout, a mainstay in center field, might spend more time at designated hitter.
The Angels managed only one run despite racking up 11 hits in the series opener. They have lost six of their past seven games.
Angels left-hander Reid Detmers was the subject of trade speculation and that didn’t come to fruition. Previously listed as the potential starter on Tuesday, he is now set to start on Wednesday.
Detmers (3-7, 4.03 ERA) hasn’t won in his past seven starts, and Los Angeles went 0-5 in July in the games he pitched.
Detmers’ pitching victories this year have all come on the road, including his most recent triumph on June 16 at Arizona. In six career matchups (five starts) vs. Baltimore, Detmers is 1-2 with a 2.35 ERA over 30 2/3 innings.
Baltimore left-hander Trevor Rogers (6-7, 4.27 ERA) was part of some mild trade speculation, but he stuck around and will get the ball Wednesday night. He went 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA in five July starts, and the Orioles won four of those games.
Rogers took the loss in his only career outing vs. the Angels, allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings in 2022 when he pitched for the Miami Marlins.
–Field Level Media
