Halos look to sweep the Tigers in this morning’s series finale

It’s been a bright week in Detroit for the Halos with Jo Adell’s first career grand slam on Tuesday and Shohei Ohtani’s outstanding outing on the mound last night. After two days of strong offensive power and great defensive plays, your Halos are looking to sweep the Tigers today in the series finale at 10:10 AM.

The Angels will send José Quintana (6.12 ERA) to the mound for his 10th start of the season and his first time starting since May 30. In his last three games, Quintana has stepped in as relief for the bullpen, making Joe Maddon’s choice to start him an interesting change of pace for the defense. This will be the first time that Quintana is facing the Tigers’ lineup, and with the help of a solid defense, the left handed pitcher has the opportunity to lighten his 0-3 record and record his first win of the season.

Maddon said in a press conference this morning that he thinks Quintana is ready to take the mound after some hard work in the bullpen.

“He wants to be a starter again, but I’m here to tell you that you cannot handle it better than he has, going back to the bullpen and just literally nose to the grindstone to continue with the great work, but he’s excited about this opportunity,” said Maddon. “We’re all a big fan of Q.”

With Patrick Sandoval being placed on the 10 day IL with a lower back injury and Alex Cobb’s absence due to an injured wrist, the Halos bullpen is in a constant state of movement, leaving Quintana with an opening to pick up the defense with his start today.

He’ll be facing off against Tigers pitcher Matt Manning (6.10 ERA). Manning last took on the Angels on June 17, walking away with a loss after pitching 5 innings and allowing 4 hits and 2 runs.

It’s been a strong week for the Halos bullpen with the pitchers keeping the Tigers runs low in each game. On Tuesday, the Tigers recorded 2 runs, and they followed up last night with only 1 run scored — a true testament to the strength of the bullpen while the bats got hot as the series pushed on. Ohtani wore both hats yesterday, taking the mound as a starting pitcher who simultaneously lowered his ERA to 2.79 and stepped up to help himself out with a solo HR - his 40th of the season.

Joe Maddon continues to play with the Angels lineup, and hopefully, fans will see the perfect formula fall into place soon as the Halos attempt to pull themselves back up the ladder. Justin Upton, who helped Ohtani last night with a 2 run HR, will be moved from the #4 spot to the #5 spot with José Iglesias replacing Jack Mayfield in the #9 spot. Mayfield will be on the bench today after starting the last two games and going 1-for-6 with 2 walks, an RBI and 1 run.

The Angels now stand 7.5 games back from the second AL Wild Card spot with an even .500 record and a chance to sweep the series against the Detroit Tigers this morning.

Thursday News & Notes:

• Joe Maddon said that he had no updates on Patrick Sandoval other than the fact that he will be receiving further tests.
• Joe Maddon said that Alex Cobb felt better yesterday after throwing the ball around.