AL West rivals will close out a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon when the Los Angeles Angels visit the Oakland Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum. After the Angels won Monday's opener by a 1-0 final to cash in as a +123 underdog, the two teams will meet again later on Tuesday after the time of publishing. Los Angeles is in fourth place in the AL West at 47-63, while Oakland is one spot behind at 41-69.
The Angels now hold a 7-4 head-to-head advantage over Oakland in 2022 as they attempt to win the season series for the first time in four years.
The Angels are looking for any positives they can find in another lost season, and will be encouraged by young starter Jose Suarez throwing a gem to topple the Athletics on Monday night. Luis Rengifo hit a solo homer in the top of the first that would hold up as the only scoring of the game as the Angels got it done despite recording only five hits for the night.
Suarez was outstanding over seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while piling up eight strikeouts. The bullpen shut things down from there, with Ryan Tapera earning his second save. David Fletcher had a two-hit game as he continues to play well since coming off the IL.
“It helps me a lot because they have two different movements,” Suarez said about a new changeup that helped his strong outing via MLB.com. “My old one is more like a fastball, and this one has more movement.”

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The Angels are one of the least profitable teams in baseball on the money line while going 51-59 on the run line. Overs are 45-55-10 for the Angels after the opener went well under the betting total of 7.5 runs.
It's been a miserable year for the Angels offense, which averages just 3.86 runs per game on a .678 team OPS to rank in the bottom six across baseball for both categories. The pitching staff has at least been around the mid-pack at a 3.92 ERA including a mark of 3.97 out of the bullpen.
Taylor Ward has been a breakout star at the plate, posting an .819 OPS with 14 homers amd 38 driven in. Shohei Ohtani is also having another good season at the plate, posting an .837 OPS with 24 homers, 11 steals and 65 driven in.
Patrick Sandoval will take the mound for the 19th time this season, looking to follow up a strong outing last Friday against the Seattle Mariners as he tossed 5.1 scoreless innings allo wing three hits and four walks, striking out five. The 25-year-old has flashed good stuff this season, going 3-7 with a 3.41 ERA and 102 strikeouts across 95 innings of work,
Los Angeles is still without superstar Mike Trout (back), with third baseman Anthony Rendon (wrist), infielder Matt Duffy (back) and outfielder Mickey Moniak (fractured finger) also out. The rotation is down Michael Lorenzen (stained shoulder), Griffin Canning (back discomfort) and Chris Rodriguez (shoulder surgery). Reliever Archie Bradley is recovering from a fractured elbow.