The Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics will take the field at RingCentral Coliseum on Saturday for the second game of a three-game set. First pitch from Oakland, CA, will be at 1:07 p.m. PT.
Los Angeles will send southpaw Patrick Sandoval to the mound. The 26-year-old went 6-9 with a 2.91 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, and 151 strikeouts in 2022. He had 11 quality starts.
Oakland will counter with 28-year-old Shintaro Fujinami. The 6-foot-6 righty will be making his first career MLB start. The Japanese star joined Oakland this offseason after signing a one-year, $3.25 million contract.
The Angels are -158 moneyline favorites and the game total is 7.5 runs scored.
Los Angeles wasted a gem of a start by Shohei Ohtani on Thursday, falling 2-1 in Oakland. The Angels' superstar pitched six innings, striking out ten and allowing zero runs, but the bullpen couldn't hold the one-run lead. LA will turn to Patrick Sandoval tomorrow after an off day on Friday.
The left-hander is coming off an impressive showing in the World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico. He looked sharp in the team's 6-5 semifinal loss to Japan, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Sandoval is 2-3 with a 1.84 ERA and 37 strikeouts in eight career starts versus Oakland. In his most recent start on October 3rd of last year, he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and recording six Ks.
Patrick Sandoval, Nasty 88mph Slider…
And is fired TF up. ?? p ic.twitter.com/3hsMN5ORnP
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 21, 2023
While Saturday's starter should be reliable, can Los Angeles' lineup be trusted? The Angels have plenty of star power and respectable big-leaguers on their lineup card but lost as large moneyline favorites on Opening Day, scoring one run on five hits and four walks. LA left seven runners on base and was 1-6 with runners in scoring position. Bouncing back tomorrow will be crucial, especially against a team that's predicted to be among, if not the worst, in baseball this season.
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