Los Angeles @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2011 ) LA Angels 2, Baltimore 6
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Angels are desperate for a victory. With that in mind, manager Mike Scioscia is sending ace righthander Jered Weaver to the mound on three days' rest for Sunday's series finale against the Baltimore Orioles. After dropping the first two contests of the set, the Angels have fallen 4 1/2 games behind the American League West-leading Texas Rangers and five back of the Boston Red Sox in the race for the wild card. Baltimore has won four in a row and is relishing its role as spoiler.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, FSW, MASN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Jered Weaver (17-7, 2.40 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Alfredo Simon (4-8, 4.67 ERA)
Weaver is righting the ship after a difficult stretch following the All-Star Game. The 28-year-old allowed just one run for the second straight start in Wednesday's 4-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. He scattered six hits over seven innings to pick up his third win in four decisions. Weaver has struggled against the Orioles, posting a 2-3 career mark.
Simon hasn't won in nearly a month, but he did pitch well in his last outing. The 30-year-old Dominican permitted two runs on six hits and struck out a career-high nine in seven innings on Tuesday. Simon, who retired 12 straight batters at one point, settled for a no-decision in that outing against the Tampa Bay Rays. Simon dropped his lone career decision to the Angels on July 22, although he only allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings.
ABOUT THE ANGELS (82-69): The Los Angeles bats didn't wake up until the fifth inning on Saturday. Rookie Mike Trout singled with one out in the frame for his team's first hit. Erick Aybar, who has 13 hits in his last nine games, also followed with a single, but the Angels couldn't put a dent on the scoreboard. Vernon Wells had an RBI triple with two outs in the ninth, but that hit proved to be mostly cosmetic with Los Angeles trailing by five at the time. Wells is 2-for-4 with three RBIs in his career against Simon.
ABOUT THE ORIOLES (62-88): Mark Reynolds belted a three-run homer to highlight a five-run first inning as Baltimore cruised to a 6-2 triumph on Saturday. Reynolds' blast was his second in as many days, a nice bounceback after he was marred in an 0-for-21 skid at the plate prior to the outburst. His evening didn't end well, however, as he was beaned by a fastball in the third inning. He later left the contest in the fifth and was sent to a local hospital for a precautionary CT scan. J.J. Hardy blasted his career-high 27th homer in the victory. An MRI confirmed that Adam Jones is nursing a sprained right thumb. The outfielder, who has missed seven straight games, plans to "just tough it out."
FINAL PITCH: Weaver worked on three days’ rest at Texas on Aug. 28 and was tagged for seven runs in six innings.