Teams heading in opposite directions meet as Angels visit A’s again

The Los Angeles Angels will look to record a season-best fifth straight victory when they visit the Athletics on Tuesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

The Angels posted a 4-3 victory Monday in the opener of the four-game series for their fourth consecutive win. The first three victories came in a road sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Going to the field every day is fun,” Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel said after the game Monday. “Being able to win and go celebrate in the clubhouse is so much fun. This is a great group of guys.”

Schanuel was one of the hitting heroes by going 3-for-4 with a solo homer, two doubles and two runs on Monday.

He cited patience at the plate as a big factor for why he registered his third three-hit outing of the month.

“Being patient and getting our pitch, that’s the biggest thing,” Schanuel said. “Letting the trash go, picking out your pitch early in the count and when you get it, not missing it.”

Taylor Ward also has been capitalizing on pitches this month. He hit a two-run tiebreaking homer in the third inning on Monday. He has homered in three consecutive games and seven of his past 13. Ward leads the Angels with 13 blasts this season.

Meanwhile, the Athletics have been outscored 45-11 during their season-worst six-game slide. Overall, the A’s have dropped 10 of their past 12 games. A week ago, they were 1 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West. They enter play Tuesday six games out, in a virtual tie with the Angels for last place.

Athletics pinch hitter Seth Brown took a hard swing at tying Monday’s game to start the ninth, but his deep drive was caught two feet in front of the right field wall by Jo Adell.

“He just got under it a little bit,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “That was the story of the game. We just couldn’t execute with runners in scoring position. We were 2-for-10. It’s been a challenge for sure.”

That 2-for-10 followed a 3-for-24 weekend when the Athletics were swept by the San Francisco Giants. The past three losses for the A’s have come by one run each.

Kotsay did say there was improvement against the Angels.

“I thought our at-bats were better, but the results weren’t,” he said. “To get out of a grind, it takes a big performance. You look for someone to kind of take the team on their back and carry them through.”

A’s rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson reached base four times with two singles, a walk and a hit by pitch. His .343 batting average ranks third in the majors.

The Angels will send Kyle Hendricks (1-5, 5.18 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday against Gunnar Hoglund (1-1. 3.78) in a battle of right-handers.

Hendricks, 35, has lost two straight starts and five of his past six. His lone win of the season came May 3 against the Detroit Tigers, 5-2. He is in his first season with the Angels after spending 11 seasons with the Chicago Cubs. Hendricks has faced the Athletics twice and is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA.

Hoglund, 25, will make his fourth big league start and pitched into the sixth inning in each of the first three. He served up three homers in a 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday. He allowed four runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Hoglund gave up one run in six innings while beating the Miami Marlins 6-1 in his major league debut on May 2.

–Field Level Media