Veteran right-hander Julio Teheran, slowed by the coronavirus in July, will make his second start of the season against the hottest team in baseball Monday night when the Angels open a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics in Angel Stadium.
Teheran was pulled after only 52 pitches and 2 2/3 innings of his Angels debut last Wednesday night, departing with a 1-0 lead that turned into a 3-1 deficit when Seattle slugger Kyle Seager hit a three-run homer off reliever Ryan Buchter. The Angels went on to lose 7-6.
Angels manager Joe Maddon said Teheran, the former Atlanta Braves pitcher who signed a one-year, $9-million deal last winter, should be able to throw 75-80 pitches.
Justin Upton will start in left field against struggling Oakland left-hander Sean Manaea, who has an 8.03 ERA and has yet to complete five innings in any of his three starts.
Mike Trout has a .368 average (seven for 19) with three homers against Manaea, but Albert Pujols, who needs one homer to tie Willie Mays (660) for fifth place on baseball’s all-time homer list, is batting .050 (one for 20) against Manaea.
This will be a challenging week for the Angels, who were swept in a three-game weekend series at Texas. They will play three games against the A’s, who have won nine straight and entered Monday with a major league-best 12-4 record, and three against the Dodgers, who entered Monday with an 11-5 record.
“I’m looking forward to playing both of those teams, I really am,” Maddon said. “I do believe that we’re going to start hitting. I like the way the pitching is trending.”
Texas general manager Jon Daniels told Rangers reporters the team will appeal the official scorer’s ruling of a four-base error by Angels right fielder Jo Adell on Nick Solak’s fly ball to the warning track Sunday in Texas.
Adell struggled with his footwork and had trouble tracking the ball in Globe Life Field’s retractable roof. Adell stabbed at the ball, which bounced off the inside of his glove and over the wall for a play that was initially ruled a homer before being changed to an error.
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