MLB Game Preview - LA Angels at Oakland

Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:10 PM EDT

Angels look to put together win streak at A's

A pair of key starters looking to rebound from rough outings will meet Sunday afternoon when the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics face each other to close out a three-game series in the Bay Area.

The Angels will send right-hander Dylan Bundy (3-2, 2.48 ERA) to the mound, while the A's will counter with right-hander Frankie Montas (2-2, 4.74).

The Angels enter after a 4-3 victory at Oakland on Saturday that ended their four-game losing streak. Angels relievers Matt Andriese and Ty Buttrey held Oakland scoreless over the final 4 1/3 innings. The A's saw their nine-game home winning streak come to an end.

Bundy, by far the Angels' best starter this season, enters off a home outing against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, when he gave up four runs on four hits with four walks and was removed after four innings. Two of the walks came on a changeup, which Bundy said was lacking in the outing.

"Nothing was working from the very beginning," Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters. "He didn't have his typical command of everything like he has had. Fastball was getting hit. He tried to elevate a couple times and got it whacked. There was nothing working for him today, but he got through that four. It just wasn't Dylan's day."

Finding better command will be vital as he faces the A's for the third time already this season. He earned the victory in each of his two previous matchups against the A's, giving up one run on three hits in his season debut July 25 and delivering seven scoreless innings against them on Aug. 11.

Pitching well against the A's this season is not a new development for Bundy. He is 4-1 against them in his six-year career with a 3.49 ERA in seven outings, six of them starts. He did struggle against Oakland in his lone outing last season, giving up six runs on seven hits over five innings as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

Montas was rocked for nine runs on six hits with four walks in just 1 2/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday as he returned from a bout of upper back tightness. The early deficit led to a 10-1 Diamondbacks victory.

After giving up five runs in the first inning, manager Bob Melvin and pitching coach Scott Emerson checked in with their pitcher, but Montas insisted he was fine.

"Honestly, they were probably concerned about my neck, my upper back," Montas told reporters. "I told them that I felt good. It was just (that) my timing was off."

Montas had entered that outing with a 2-1 record and a 1.57 ERA over his first four starts. One of those was his season debut on July 24 when he gave up one run on three hits over four innings to the Angels in an eventual 7-3 Oakland victory.

Pitching against the Angels has always agreed with the fifth-year starter. He is 2-0 against them in eight outings (five starts) with a 2.87 ERA.

Three-time American League MVP Mike Trout obviously will have Montas' attention. Trout had three RBIs in Saturday's Angels' victory, with 14 of his 25 RBIs this season coming against the A's in nine games between the teams.

--Field Level Media