The Yankees spent the previous week engaged in high-visibility home series against two of their most hated rivals: the Astros and Red Sox. They ultimately came out ahead in the aggregate thanks to grabbing three of four from Boston. And did they ever enjoy Sunday afternoon’s 16-1 drubbing. A happy flight across the country brought them to sunny Orange County, where they will engage in a decidedly less intense three-game set with the Angels.
The Perry Minasian Era in Anaheim ended with a decisive thud
in June, when the Halos let go of their general manager of the past seven seasons as they trudged through another lost campaign. The Angels sit in the basement of the AL West once again, entering this series with a 52-85 record. The equally moribund Athletics have occasionally slipped past them in the race to the bottom every so often, but an active seven-game losing streak rectified that real fast. They remain the worst kind of bad team: a bad team that isn’t even fun to watch. Not to mention the fact that Mike Trout, All-Star that he was this season, is in year four of an extended decline from the ranks of the league’s elite players.
With all that said, tonight’s pitching matchup promises plenty of talent. Elmer Rodriguez, just a few weeks removed from his 23rd birthday, will make a second start in his latest Major League cameo. It’s easy to forget that this will only be the righty’s sixth start up in the Show, considering that MLB debut in Arlington came all the way back in April. All the while, he’s continued to pitch well in International League play, earning these additional opportunities when mainline guys like Max Fried have hit the shelf. Last time out against Houston, he earned his first MLB quality start—though the offensive explosion which would have earned him his first MLB win came an inning later than it needed to. At least it happened at all. He gets another shot at it tonight.
His opponent on the mound is a young man who has quietly pieced together a great rookie season: 22-year old Walbert Ureña. Ureña made the Angels’ pitching staff out of spring training as a reliever, and pitched in their season opener before being optioned back to the Minors. He came back in mid-April and quickly earned a spot in the rotation which he isn’t due to relinquish anytime soon. With September on the horizon, Ureña boasts a 2.94 ERA; and the peripheral stats back it up. Sure, he throws hard, but his changeup has been the X-factor: a dead fish-type offering which misses bats and avoids the barrel on contact. Batters have posted a meager .156 batting average and .251 slugging percentage against it.
In other words, this ain’t your average late-season battle between two young hurlers who were virtually unknown outside of prospect circles before 2026. It’ll likely be one worth staying up late on the East Coast for. Join us! Let’s have some fun.
Ureña will face a lineup that begins with a lefty stack; Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, and Luis Garcia Jr. will make up the top. Amed Rosario hits cleanup ahead of a second trio of lefties: Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Spencer Jones. José Caballero takes shortstop and Austin Wells does the catching.
How to watch
Location: Angel Stadium — Anaheim, CA
First pitch: 9:38 pm ET
TV: YES, ABTV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280; KLAA 830, Angels ES
Streaming: MLB.tv
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