Hot Tigers look to Casey Mize as they try to sweep scuffling Angels

The Detroit Tigers, who have won 11 of their last 14 games, will try to complete a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.

Right-hander Casey Mize (4-6, 2.79 ERA), a free agent who could be on the move at the Aug. 3 trade deadline, gets the start for the Tigers and will be opposed by rookie right-hander Ryan Johnson (1-4, 6.75 ERA).

Mize is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA in six career starts against Los Angeles, including 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA in three starts at Angel Stadium. He comes in off a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday when he allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits in 5 2/3 winning while striking out five.

Johnson will be making just his third career start at Angel Stadium and the seventh of his career. A second round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Dallas Baptist, Johnson is 0-0 with 9.00 ERA in one career relief appearance against Detroit.

The Tigers, who scored two runs on a Hao-Yu Lee double with two outs in the ninth inning to pull out a 2-1 victory in the series opener on Friday, cruised to a 7-0 win on Saturday behind a brilliant pitching performance by two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, and two long home runs and four RBIs from first baseman Spencer Torkelson.

Skubal scattered five hits over seven innings and struck out nine to pick up his sixth win of the season. He didn't walk a batter and left after throwing 87 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Skubal, a free agent at the end of the season, is regarded as potentially the top trade target for teams at the deadline if the Tigers decide to part with him.

"It's all out of my control," he said afterward. "Those questions should be asked to our front office, not me. I don't control any of that, so you should ask the people that are going to make those things happen."

Even after their hot stretch, Detroit is still 5 1/2 games out of first place in the A.L. Central and 3 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot.

"Individually, it really doesn't matter to me," Skubal said. "We (flew) here to win a series here in L.A., and now we have an opportunity to sweep with our guy Casey on the mound. I really like where we're at. We've pitched deep into games, our bullpen's fresh, all those types of things to hopefully set up a sweep, because every win is really important for us right now."

Meanwhile, the Angels have lost an MLB-worst 61 games. Los Angeles has dropped 12 of its last 14 games, including the last four in a row.

"At the end of the day, we got our asses kicked tonight," catcher Logan O'Hoppe, who had two hits, told the Orange County Register. "Doesn't feel too great."

"No mystery that we want to be on the winning side," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki added. "We are in most games that we are playing, and on the losing end most of the time. I think the one thing we can take away is that they battle to the end. ... We just have to find a way to get that big hit."

--Field Level Media