While the Los Angeles Angels have a new piece for their lineup, the Baltimore Orioles are trying to build momentum any way they can.
The teams meet Saturday in Baltimore in the second game of a three-game series.
The Orioles won 2-0 on Friday night, waiting through two weather delays to do so. Now, they’ll try to clinch a series victory for the sixth time in 23 series this season.
Before Friday night, the Angels had won three in a row and five of six games, so they’ve mostly been in a good groove recently. Yet Los Angeles has been blanked six times this season.
The last inning included two strikeouts for Angels batters against Orioles closer Felix Bautista. He reached 99 mph on his fastball three times while logging his 12th save.
“There’s probably another gear in there,” Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said.
The Angels will be anxious to see more of 2024 first-round draft pick Christian Moore. The 22-year-old second baseman made his debut in the major leagues Friday night, going 0-for-3 at the plate.
“I’m here now, and I’m blessed for it,” Moore said.
Last June, Moore was helping Tennessee win a national championship in the Men’s College World Series. He was penciled into the No. 9 spot in the batting order for his first game with the Angels.
Los Angeles manager Ron Washington is interested in seeing a larger sample size of what Moore can do now that the debut is out of the way.
“We’ll find out tomorrow. We’ll find out the next day,” Washington said. “So we’ve just got to let it play out. I’m happy for him.”
Moore said he has gained confidence in recent weeks. After a promotion from Double-A Rocket City, he hit .350 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 20 games for Triple-A Salt Lake.
“I just knew I had to keep doing what I was doing and good things can happen,” he said.
Baltimore right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23 ERA) will start on Saturday, aiming to defeat the Angels for the second time this season.
The rookie from Japan was the winning pitcher with a season-long 7 1/3-inning stint on May 9 when Baltimore prevailed 4-1 in Anaheim, Calif. Sugano allowed three hits and no walks while fanning five.
The Angels have left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99) pegged as their Saturday starting pitcher. He took a loss on May 11 at home against Baltimore, though only one of the three runs he surrendered in five innings was charged as earned. Anderson permitted four hits, walked two and struck out five.
For the most part, the Orioles have had troubles against left-handed pitching this year.
“The players, everyone’s working on it hard,” Mansolino said. “There’s probably some solutions down the pipeline, too. … We’ve got to be better.”
More recently, Anderson hasn’t completed five innings in either of his June starts. He hasn’t picked up a victory since April 18 against the San Francisco Giants, a span of nine winless starts.
In his career, Anderson is 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts against Baltimore.
The Orioles could have Colton Cowser back for the weekend, though he missed the Friday game with general soreness after running into the outfield wall on Thursday. Mansolino said Cowser might have been available for duty off the bench on Friday, but no in-game moves were made.
–Field Level Media
