The Oakland Athletics play host to the Los Angeles Angels in the opening game of their divisional series from RingCentral Coliseum. While neither team will find itself in the playoffs come the fall, it still seems likely that they'll battle off in a competitive series this week. These two have already met quite a few times this season, though Oakland has won each of the last two meetings, snapping the Angels' run of three straight wins prior. With a limited schedule on Monday, there might not be a more competitive game on the calendar than this one.
It has been an up and down season for the Angels so far this year and while the playoffs appear out of reach, that doesn't mean that they won't be putting their best foot forward down the stretch. They're coming off a nice four-game split with the Mariners but continuing the road trip could spell trouble for this group. They've only gone -6 over their last ten games and with one of baseball's worst road records as well, it is expected to be a struggle for this group come Monday night's opener.
Injuries haven't made it easy for this team to compete and being without Mike Trout (ribs), Matt Duffy (back), and Anthony Rendon (wrist), has been difficult. The main name to keep an eye on for Monday is the status of Shohei Ohtani (forearm), who is questionable for action.
Fletch lives?? pic.twitter.com/DvwvXxJihn
&m dash; Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 7, 2022
According to MLB.com, Jose Suarez will get the ball as he looks to set the tone for the mid-week slate of games. The lefty has been decent this season, though it seems unlikely to see him dominate in this one. He comes in with a 3-4 record and 4.55 ERA but is coming off back-to-back shutouts, which is sure to give him some confidence as he takes the mound in this one. His last start was actually against the Athletics as well, where he allowed no earned runs across five innings of work.
The offense continues to be a struggle for this group and could be what holds them back over the weekend. Beyond having baseball's worst strikeout rate, they also rank in the bottom five of baseball in runs, average, and OPS. The home run numbers have helped to prop them up but it seems unlikely that they'll have enough in the tank to put the pressure on Oakland in this one.