It’s been more than a month since the Los Angeles Angels won their only series of the season. And much longer since doing so at Cleveland.
The Guardians, meanwhile, likely will be without star left fielder Steven Kwan as they try to build on a needed victory and avoid losing their third consecutive series Sunday against the visiting Angels.
Though Los Angeles fell 7-1 at Cleveland on Saturday, Friday’s 6-0 series-opening triumph has the Angels in position to win their first set since sweeping a three-game series at Miami from April 1-3. Meanwhile, the Angels are 5-26 at Cleveland since last winning a series there in August 2013.
“It is what it is,” Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak told Bally Sports West. “We have been playing some pretty good baseball.”
As for the Guardians, still sit atop the American League Central but are 4-6 since winning five straight, and they entered this series following a 2-4 trip through Atlanta and Houston. They’ve lost just one 2024 home series, dropping two of three to the New York Yankees from April 13-14.
“This team is really resilient,” Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, who broke open a 3-1 run game Saturday with his first career grand slam in the sixth inning, told Bally Sports Cleveland. “The end goal is to win every series, and we have an opportunity, and the boys are gonna come ready.”
The Guardians probably will need to do so without Kwan, who exited Saturday’s contest after three innings with left hamstring tightness. Kwan leads the AL with a .353 batting average.
Cleveland’s Sunday starter, Carlos Carrasco (1-2, 6.59 ERA), will look to avoid a third straight rough outing after allowing 13 runs and 15 hits, including five homers, in just nine innings of his last two starts.
The veteran right-hander opened his second stint as a Guardian by going 1-1 with a respectable 3.44 ERA and no homers allowed in four starts prior to those struggles.
Carrasco lasted just four innings Tuesday during a 10-9, 10-inning loss to Houston after allowing a pair of three-run homers and two other runs. He is 3-2 with a 3.42 ERA in 13 career games (seven starts) against the Angels, who will turn to right-hander Griffin Canning (1-3, 7.45) in this series finale.
Canning has not lasted past 5 1/3 innings in any of his six starts this season. He was tagged for three first-inning runs during Monday’s 6-5 win at Philadelphia. He also allowed a season-high five walks in five innings, then gave up a fourth run in the fifth inning when he broke the pick-off disengagement rule to warrant a balk that scored the runner from third.
In his only previous appearance vs. Cleveland, Canning allowed three runs, eight hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-3 home loss in September 2023. The Guardians’ Ramon Laureano, who hit his first homer of the season Saturday, is 7-for-17 with two doubles and three home runs against Canning.
Meanwhile, Cleveland star Jose Ramirez is 0-for-17 in his last five games, and with two hits Saturday, Los Angeles’ Taylor Ward is batting .321 in the last seven.
Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe exited Saturday’s game with a hand contusion. Los Angeles manager Ron Washington said O’Hoppe is not scheduled to start Sunday.
