LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the fourth (2-1) of seven games on a road trip against the Chicago White Sox (2-1) and Houston Astros (June 1-4)…Halos went 5-4 on last homestand against the Minnesota Twins (2-1), Boston Red Sox (3-0) and Miami Marlins (0-3)…LAA was 3-4 on last road trip to Cleveland (1-2) and Baltimore (2-2).
DINGER DUO: Yesterday was the 27th time that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani homered in the same game… It’s the third highest total among duos in Angels history (trails only Trout/Pujols – 48 games & Salmon/ Anderson – 28 games).
JUST MET A MAN NAMED BARRIA: Since April 8, Jaime Barria leads the Majors (min. 20 IP) with a 0.59 ERA (30.1 IP – 2 ER)…He made his second start of the season yesterday at White Sox and earned the win (has also made 11 appearances from Angels bullpen this year).
WINNING MONTHS: Angels went 15-13 in May after completing March/April with a 15-14 record (15-13 in April)…Halos had a record above .500 in consecutive months for the first time since June/July 2021.
VS. HOUSTON: Astros lead the 2023 season series 2-1 after the first series of the year at Angel Stadium from May 8-10…The teams will meet a total of 13 times this season…Last year, Astros won season series 13-6…Mike Trout leads all active players with 29 career home runs vs. Houston.
LEAGUE LEADER: Shohei Ohtani, leads the Majors in opponent batting average (.155), is second in WHIP (0.95) and fourth in strikeouts (90).
PLAY FROM AHEAD: Halos have held leads in 46 of 57 games played this year.
JOYCE CALLED UP: Monday, RHP Ben Joyce made his Major League debut, working one scoreless inning with two strikeouts…Recorded first career strikeout on 101.8 MPH pitch vs. Gavin Sheets; second fastest pitch for first career strikeout in the Statcast era (102.4 MPH by Julian Fernandez (COL) on 9/5/21 vs. ATL)…Joyce is ranked by MLB Pipleline as Angels #9 prospect…The Angels third round selection last season becomes the second player from the 2022 Draft to reach the Majors, following teammate Zach Neto.
LATE COMEBACKS: Halos have three wins this season when trailing after eight innings, which matches the Angels total from each of the last two seasons…Last time LAA had more than three wins in a season when trailing after eight frames was 2017 (5).
FEELS FAMILIAR: Tuesday night, Taylor Ward hit his second career leadoff home run…Both came at Guaranteed Rate Field off Lucas Giolito (also, 4/29/22).
CATCHING ON: This season, Angels catchers rank third in the Majors with an .800 OPS and are tied for third with 10 home runs.
SINGLE HANDED: Gio Urshela has hit 47 singles this year plus 11 extra-base hits (eight doubles, one triple & two home runs)…Urshela ranks second, behind Toronto’s Bo Bichette (56), for the American League lead in singles…Since May 5, Urshela ranks third in the A.L. with a .345 (29/84) batting average in that span.
LEAD ASSISTANT: Hunter Renfroe is tied for second in the American League with five outfield assists this season…Since 2017, his 61 outfield assists lead the Majors (Starling Marte is second with 52 assists).
NET-OW: Zack Neto has been hit by 10 pitches this season, which is second-most in the Majors…Since 1901, only Nick Johnson (2001-02 Yankees; 37 career games) reached 10 career HBP faster than Neto (41 career games).
ESTÉVEZ ENDING: This season, Carlos Estévez is pitching to a 1.50 ERA (24 IP – 4 ER) and has converted all 13 of his save opportunities (the 13 saves are a new career high)…He is the first Angels pitcher to convert his first 13 save opportunities of a season since Troy Percival had 16 straight successful save opportunities to begin the 2001 season.
THE MICK: Mickey Moniak is one of three players in the Majors with at least three leadoff HR this year, along with Mookie Betts (4) and Christian Yelich (3)… On May 13 at Cleveland, became the first player in MLB history to make his season debut on his birthday and hit a leadoff home run.
SHUT OUT: Sunday’s 2-0 loss vs. Miami was the first time Halos were shut out since Aug. 21, 2022 at Detroit…The streak of 94 games without being shut out was the longest active streak in the Majors and finishes as the fourth-longest streak in Angels history.
BACHMAN IN THE SHOW: Sam Bachman made his MLB debut Friday night vs. Miami with 2.0 innings pitched in relief…The Angels first round pick (ninth overall) in the 2021 Draft, Bachman is currently rated by MLB Pipleline as the #4 prospect in the Halos system…He is the highest drafted player from the 2021 Draft to debut and the only pitcher from the first two rounds of that Draft to appear in the Majors.
UNEARNED: Angels have allowed 31 unearned runs this season, which is tied with San Francisco for the Majors…Halos have committed 35 fielding errors this season, which is tied for fifth-most in the Majors and tied for most in A.L.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP REID DETMERS
0-4, 4.93 ERA
Tied career high with 12 strikeouts on May 19 vs. Twins
- TODAY’S GAME: Making 10th start of the season today and fifth on the road…Made Opening Day roster for second consecutive season…Is in third Major League season with Angels.
- LAST TIME OUT: Took the loss in last start on Friday vs. Miami after tossing 5+ innings and allowing three earned runs on 10 hits with two walks and five strikeouts
- 12K: Matched career high with 12 strikeouts on May 19 vs. Minnesota and carried a no-hitter through 5.2 innings…Previously tallied 12 strikeouts on July 31, 2022 vs. Texas.
- END THE STREAK: Has taken the loss in each of last four decisions, which is longest streak of career.
- STAY UNFAMILIAR: This season, opponents are batting .224 (33/147) the first two times through the order, but are batting .529 (18/34) the third time through the batting order.
- EARLY SUCCESS: Has a 2.67 ERA (27 IP – 8 ER) in the first three innings of games, compared with an 8.20 ERA (18.2 IP – 17 ER) from the fourth inning on…12 of 30 runs allowed this year (40%) have come in 6th inning.
- GOING OFFSPEED: In 2023, is holding opponents to a .267 (34/127) average against off-speed pitches, including a .227 (5/22) clip on curveballs, but has a .309 (17/55) average against his fastball.
- VS. HOUSTON: In four career starts vs. Houston (all at Angel Stadium), is 1-1 with a 3.98 ERA (20.1 IP – 9 ER) and 21 strikeouts…Last season, was 0-1 with a 5.02 ERA (14.1 IP – 8 ER) in three starts against the Astros… Earned first career Major League win on Aug. 15, 2021 (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO) vs. Houston at Angel Stadium.
- AT MINUTE MAID PARK: Today marks first career appearance at Minute Maid Park.
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT: The Astros and Angels will open a four-game series tonight with a pitching matchup of rookie RHP Ronel Blanco opposite LHP Reid Detmers…the addition of Blanco, who was recalled from Triple A today, gives the Astros a six-man rotation, which they plan to use within their current streak of playing a game on 17 consecutive days.
ABOUT BLANCO: RHP Ronel Blanco will be making his first Major League start tonight in what will be his 17th career-appearance…Blanco made the Astros as a reliever out of Spring Training this season and made nine appearances before being optioned to Triple A on May 6…at Triple A, he worked to get extended, making appearances of 2.1 innings, 3.1, 5.0 and finally 5.1 in his last appearance on May 26…he had huge success in this role, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA (1ER/16IP) and an .098 opponent average (5×58)…Blanco’s transition as a starter can be credited to Astros General Manager Dana Brown, who identified Blanco in Spring Training as a potential starter.
RECENT ‘STROS: The Astros are 15-5 in their last 20 games dating back to May 9…since that date, the Astros record is the best in the Majors, immediately ahead of the Yankees (15-7).
GRINDERS: Tonight is the seventh day in a streak of 17 consecutive days with a game for the Astros…prior to this week, the most days the Astros had played in a row was seven, a streak that opened the season from March 30-April 5.
VS. THE ANGELS: The Astros and Angels are matching up for their second series of the season, with Houston winning two of three in Anaheim from May 8-10….the Astros went 13-6 against the Angels in 2021 and 2022 and own an all-time 113-76 record vs. the Angels.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Astros dropped the rubber game of their three-game series against the Twins last night by a score of 8-2…the Twins ran away with the victory, leading 8-0 late, before the Astros clubbed a pair of back-to-back homers in the 8th, one each by CF Jake Meyers and C Yainer Diaz…SS Jeremy Peña and 3B Alex Bregman each picked up a pair of singles in the loss.
TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE: The Astros have recalled RHP Ronel Blanco from Triple A Sugar Land and have optioned LHP Parker Mushinski to Triple A.
PITCHING IN: The Astros have the lowest team ERA (3.25) and have allowed the fewest runs (197) in the Majors…the Astros starters rank fourth the Majors in ERA (3.35) and have allowed one-or-fewer earned runs in eight of their last 12 games…also, the Astros bullpen ranks third in the Majors in ERA (3.10).
Lowest Team ERA – MLB Runs Allowed – MLB
- Houston: 3.25 1. Houston: 197
- Minnesota: 3.45 2. Minnesota: 210
- Seattle: 3.64 3. Texas: 215
HECTOR’S HOT STREAK: RHP Hector Neris has not allowed a run in his last 17 appearances (15.1IP), which ranks as the longest scoreless appearance and innings streak of his career… the streak also ranks as the longest scoreless inning streak by an Astro this season and as the longest active streak in the AL.
BULLPEN WEAPON: RHP Phil Maton has been outstanding this season, allowing just 11 hits and two runs in his first 23 appearances (26.2 IP) for a 0.68 ERA and a .124 (11×89) opponent average…among AL relievers, he ranks first in ERA (0.68), first in WHIP (0.52) and second in opponent avg. (.124)…among MLB relievers, Maton has posted the lowest WHIP and trails only RHP Devin Williams in ERA (0.51).
HOT CORNER HEATER: 3B Alex Bregman, who’s on a seven-game hit streak, is hitting .321 (27×84) with three homers, 14 RBI and an .851 OPS in his last 21 games, dating back to May 8…he’s coupled that by going errorless in those 21 games.
SECOND TO NONE: SS Jeremy Peña has hit second in five straight games, with the Astros going 3-2 in those games, and has hit second 10 times in 2023 (5-5)…over the last two years, including the postseason, the Astros are 58-14 when he hits second…Peña is hitting .351 (13×37) with five homers and a 1.280 OPS in his 10 games hitting second this season.
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP RONEL BLANCO
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023: 0-0 4.50 9 0 12.0 16 9 6 7 16
LAST TIME OUT: did not surrender a run while setting season highs in innings (5.1) and
strikeouts (9) while allowing just 2 hits vs. Salt Lake…the 9 strikeouts were also
his MiLB career high and the 5.1 IP were the most since tossing 6 IP on 7/24/17
with Single A Quad Cities.
START IT UP: is set to make his first career start in the Majors after appearing predominantly as reliever through the first 8 seasons of his professional career… moves to the Astros rotation to form a six-man starting staff with the team amidst a stretch of 17 games in 17 days (5/26-6/11)…entering the ‘23 season had made just 21 starts at the minor league level, with the last coming in ‘19 and none above the Single A level.
WHERE IT STARTED: worked as a starter toward the end of Spring Training, making 2 starts out of his 6 appearances and working up to 50 pitches…had a fantastic Spring Training, recording a 0.64 ERA (1ER/14IP) and did not allow a run through his two starts (6.1IP).
WITH THE ‘STROS: has made the Astros’ Opening Day roster in each of the last two seasons, with last year’s appearance serving as his Major League debut…made 7 appearances in ‘22 before spending the majority of the season with Triple A Sugar Land and made 9 appearances in relief this season prior to being optioned to Sugar Land on 5/6…has recorded a 5.40 ERA (11ER/18.1IP) in his MLB career…averaging 12.0 strikeouts-per-nine-innings throughout his MLB career.
