Pirates at Angels
The Pittsburgh Pirates have followed a dreadful stretch with a pair of explosive victories. Pittsburgh looks to build on the sudden momentum when it closes a three-game road series against the struggling Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
The Pirates were 4-24 since the All-Star break before scoring 10 runs on consecutive nights and have tallied 29 runs over their past three games. Slugger Josh Bell, the National League RBI leader with 98, homered in both victories over the Angels and has four in three games after suffering through a 26-game homerless drought. Los Angeles has dropped 14 of its last 18 games and has allowed 12 extra-base hits (six homers, six doubles) in the first two contests of the set. Star center fielder Mike Trout is 0-for-8 over the last three games after homering five times during a nine-game span.
TV: 8:07 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS West (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Chris Archer (3-8, 5.23 ERA) vs. Angels LH Dillon Peters (2-1, 3.45)
Archer is 0-3 in 11 starts since beating the Atlanta Braves on June 6. The 30-year-old has pitched solidly in back-to-back no-decisions, giving up three runs and recording 15 strikeouts in 12 innings during the stretch. Archer was superb against the Angels when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays as he was 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA in eight starts and shut down Kole Calhoun (2-for-16).
Peters lost to the Boston Red Sox in his last turn as he gave up three runs and five hits in six innings while matching his career best of eight strikeouts. The 26-year-old gave up two homers against the Red Sox and has served up four over his last three appearances. Peters is 1-0 with a 3.97 ERA in four appearances (one start) at Angel Stadium this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Angels 1B Albert Pujols registered his 3,166th career hit to tie fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre for most among players born outside the United States.
2. Pittsburgh CF Starling Marte has three hits in each game of the series, and rookie LF Bryan Reynolds has homered in both contests and taken over the major league lead in batting average (.338).
3. Los Angeles activated RHP Griffin Canning (elbow) - who allowed three runs on four innings on Tuesday - from the 10-day injured list, placed LHP Adalberto Mejia (personal matter) on the restricted list, recalled Jake Jewell from Salt Lake and optioned fellow RHP Jose Rodriguez to the Triple-A affiliate.