Nolan Schanuel, Angels aim to stay hot vs. Athletics

The Los Angeles Angels will look for their seventh victory in nine games when they host the Athletics in the finale of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels are 6-0 against the Athletics this season after winning 7-4 on Monday and 2-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday.

Overall, Los Angeles is 4-1 on a six-game homestand that will conclude Wednesday.

"We just have to stay the course," Angels manager Ron Washington said. "You have to sustain first, and then you can get consistent."

Nolan Schanuel has been more than consistent against the Athletics this season, going 10-for-19 in the six games.

He was 3-for-4 with a walk on Tuesday and delivered the walk-off single in the 10th.

The Athletics walked Zach Neto intentionally to bring up Schanuel with runners on the corners and two outs.

"I was super confident," Schanuel said. "I've been seeing lefties really well lately. To be given the opportunity, I was all confidence going up there."

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay defended the strategy with southpaw Hogan Harris on the mound.

"You got the matchup left-on-left," Kotsay said. "You're not going to let Neto beat you. Neto's been swinging the ball phenomenal."

The hit increased the Angels to 12-5 in one-run games this season. It also was the first career walk-off hit for the 23-year-old Schanuel.

"He's one of those kids who you can probably wake up in the snow and throw a pitch at him and he can get a base hit," said Washington, perhaps unaware Schanuel grew up in Boynton Beach, Fla., and played college baseball for nearby Florida Atlantic before the Angels chose him with the 11th overall pick of the 2023 draft.

The setback continued a rough time for the Athletics, who have dropped 23 of their past 27 games.

A's standout rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson (left hamstring tightness) sat out the contest. Kotsay said it was a precautionary move.

Wilson has been hot. He's 19-for-39 (.487) with seven multi-hit outings in his last nine starts.

Left-hander JP Sears (5-5, 5.21 ERA) of the Athletics will oppose Angels right-hander Kyle Hendricks (3-6, 5.40) on Wednesday.

Sears went 0-3 with a 7.53 ERA during a six-start span before beating the Baltimore Orioles in his last turn. He gave up four runs and four hits -- serving up two homers -- in five innings during a 5-4 victory on Friday.

Sears, 29, lost to the Angels on May 21 when he allowed four homers and was torched for six runs and eight hits over five innings. Logan O'Hoppe hit two blasts totaling 896 feet, and Neto and Jo Adell also took him deep.

Sears is 3-3 with a 4.84 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels. Neto is 5-for-10 with two homers off him.

Hendricks beat the Seattle Mariners on Friday when he gave up four runs and eight hits over six innings. The Angels won 5-4.

He defeated the A's on May 20 when he allowed four runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. Shea Langeliers (oblique), now on the injured list, and Nick Kurtz each homered against Hendricks.

Hendricks, 35, is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA in three career starts against the Athletics.

The Angels placed outfielder/infielder Chris Taylor on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a fractured left hand.

Taylor was hit on the hand by a pitch from the Athletics' Tyler Ferguson in the bottom of the eighth inning of Los Angeles' 7-4 win on Monday night. X-rays revealed the fracture. The Angels haven't unveiled a timetable for Taylor's return.

Los Angeles activated outfielder/first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. in a corresponding move. The Angels acquired him from the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. Wade didn't play Tuesday.

--Field Level Media