The Cincinnati Reds return home after an up-and-down six-game road trip and open a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
The Reds won their first three games of the trip, outscoring the Chicago White Sox 27-5 to record their first sweep of the season.
But then Cincinnati was outscored 17-5 and lost three in a row against the Seattle Mariners.
On Wednesday, the Reds managed just one hit — an Elly De La Cruz solo home run in the second — and a walk before Seattle pitching retired the final 22 Reds in order.
“Three games don’t define our team by any means,” Reds manager David Bell said after Wednesday’s setback.
Cincinnati, which is already missing TJ Friedl (wrist) and Matt McLain (shoulder), didn’t have first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand and third baseman Jeimer Candelario in the series finale due to illness.
“Of course we want everyone here,” Bell said. “We want everyone healthy. But all teams go through this, and our team fully expected to go out and win.”
The Reds remain undecided about their starting pitcher ahead of Friday’s series opener in Cincinnati.
The Angels will send left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-1, 1.47 ERA), who will make his fourth start and third on the road this season. Anderson is in his ninth season and second with the Angels.
In his last start on Sunday in Boston, Anderson took the loss after allowing three runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking three.
Anderson is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA in six career appearances (four starts) against Cincinnati.
The Angels are looking to finish their 10-game road trip on a successful note. After dropping two of three in Boston, Los Angeles split four games against the Tampa Bay Rays, including its 2-1 loss Thursday.
Mike Trout leads the American League with eight homers but generated the Angels’ only run when he walked in the sixth, stole two bases and scored on Miguel Sano’s sacrifice fly.
“That’s just what he does. That’s a part of his game,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “That’s a part of his skill set. It doesn’t always have to be when he hits balls out of the ballpark. Get on first, steal second, steal third and got a run.”
Taylor Ward has six homers and a team-leading 21 RBIs for the Angels, who were held without a home run Thursday for just the second time in their first 19 games.
Los Angeles showed some resiliency Wednesday, one night after losing four leads from the ninth inning on and falling 7-6 in 13 innings to Tampa Bay. The Angels trailed 4-3 heading into the ninth before rallying for a 5-4 win.
Los Angeles announced Wednesday that 31-year-old reliever Robert Stephenson, who was signed to a three-year, $33 million deal in the offseason, will miss this season due to an elbow injury.
Stephenson missed most of spring training with a sore shoulder before feeling elbow discomfort just four pitches into his first Triple-A rehab outing last Saturday.
–Field Level Media
