Cleveland @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 7, 2010 ) Cleveland 6, LA Angels 1
The Los Angeles Angels have had plenty of low moments this season.
Losing back-to-back home games to the Cleveland Indians is high on the list.
Tuesday night's 6-1 loss added even more frustration to what has already been a bad season for the three-time defending American League West champions.
Light-hitting catcher Lou Marson broke open the game for the Indians with a sixth-inning grand slam and the Angels managed one run in seven innings off Justin Masterson, who won for only the sixth time in 28 starts this season
Throw in the fact that veteran outfielder Torii Hunter was caught trying to steal third base with nobody out in the seventh and the Angels trailing by five runs, and Tuesday night was a washout on all fronts for Los Angeles.
The Angels are struggling in all areas of the game, but their offensive problems are the main reason they won't come close to repeating as division champions. The Angels have scored one run or less 11 times in their last 23 games.
The Indians, who won Monday night's opener 3-2, go for the sweep in the series finale today. Josh Tomlin, one of several young pitchers in Cleveland's rotation, will try to continue to make a good impression for next season.
The right-hander has won his last two starts. He beat Seattle on Thursday, holding the Mariners to three runs in six innings. Tomlin gave up seven hits, but didn't walk a batter and struck out five.
Tomlin (3-3) broke a four-game losing streak when he defeated Kansas City on Aug. 25.
The Angels had high hopes for Scott Kazmir (8-13) when they acquired him from Tampa Bay last season, but the left-hander has fallen far short of expectations. He's been in the win column eight times in 23 starts this season.
Kazmir has one victory in his last 10 starts dating to June 18 and is 1-8 in that stretch. He has pitched into the seventh inning only once in his poor stretch and that was on July 5 – more than two months ago.
Kazmir walked six in 5 2/3 innings in losing his last start to Oakland. He seems reluctant to go after hitters, which leads to nibbling around the strike zone and walking too many hitters. At some point he finally has to give in and that's when Kazmir gets hit around.
The teams, who had yet to play this season prior to the series, meet again in Cleveland next week for another three-game series.