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Clips

(September 27, 2016)

September 27, 2016 Page 2 of 13

Today’s Clips Contents

FROM THE LA TIMES (Page 3)

Garrett Richards gets set to face hitters as Angels defeat Athletics, 2-1

FROM THE OC REGISTER (Page 4)

Reality is hitting Angels' Jered Weaver during what could be his final week in majors

Angels Notes: Garrett Richards feels ready to pitch

FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 7)

Trout goes deep as Angels top A's

Weaver departs start with back tightness

Scioscia has fond memories of Scully

Richards set to throw live BP on Wednesday

Nolasco looks to keep hot streak going vs. A's

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 12)

Trout's HR, Pujols' RBI send Angels to 2-1 win over Oakland

September 27, 2016 Page 3 of 13

FROM THE LA TIMES

Garrett Richards gets set to face hitters as Angels defeat Athletics, 2-1

Pedro Moura

For one more week, the Angels’ games will continue under a shroud of irrelevance, destined to be forgotten by the morning after they occur, if not before.

The franchise’s future is not at stake within these last games. It will be, far more, on Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium, when right-hander Garrett Richards will face hitters for the first time in four months. He’ll then start and pitch two innings next week in an instructional league game in Arizona. He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in May and received a stem-cell injection as an alternative to Tommy John surgery that could enable him to pitch next season.

So far, it has worked as hoped.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said before his team’s 2-1 win over Oakland on Monday at Angel Stadium that he will travel to watch Richards’ second scheduled start, planned to last three innings, on Oct. 8.

“We’ll hopefully answer a lot of questions going into the off-season if he performs well,” Scioscia said.

After the session Scioscia will observe, Richards will throw four innings on Oct. 13, then cease throwing and return to Los Angeles to visit Dr. Steven Yoon, who administered the initial injection. Richards will undergo his fourth ultrasound examination. The first three, taken at intervals, demonstrated continued improvement.

“It’ll be interesting to go see what it looks like now after this,” Richards said. “If I go back in there, and he’s like, ‘Hey, this looks even better than before he came in,’ what does that say for the procedure? That you can’t control it, and you literally just get better and better as you go?

“Nobody knows what this stuff does. You can’t stop it. You can’t turn it off. Once you put it in there, you can’t say, ‘OK, it’s healed, stop.’ It could progressively just get better and better. But I feel as fresh as Day 1, spring training.”

Depending on what the exams show, Richards said, he could receive another injection and then wait the recommended 10 weeks before beginning an off-season program, around New Year’s Day.

Richards’ fastball velocity averaged 96 mph before the injury. He has said several times that he will opt for surgery if he cannot regain that rare force. Asked Monday if he knew how hard he has been throwing, Richards said he felt he could pitch in a game.

“Let’s put it that way,” he said. “Obviously there’s no point to going and pitching in a game right now, but if they needed me for some reason. … I could. If we were going to the playoffs, who knows, we might be going down a different path.”

As it is, the Angels have long since been eliminated from playoff contention. They are competing only for draft-pick positioning and their personal pride.

September 27, 2016 Page 4 of 13

Longtime Angel and impending free agent Jered Weaver carried a perfect game into Monday’s fifth inning. With two outs, Danny Valencia poked a grounder to third, underYunel Escobar’s glove, for a single. Weaver then walked Marcus Semien before inducing an inning-ending groundout from Bruce Maxwell.

He did not return to the mound for the sixth, despite throwing only 71 pitches. As Weaver was treated for what the Angels described as lower-back tightness, Deolis Guerra replaced him and soon yielded a tying home run to Stephen Vogt.

Weaver said his back began to bother him in the fourth inning. He plans to make his final start of the season as scheduled Sunday, but said cryptically that will meet with reporters before then to discuss his future.

“I haven’t really thought about next season, to tell you the truth,” he then said. “I’ve just been focused on getting through this one.”

In the spring, Weaver said he was unsure if he would pitch in 2017 and beyond, his decision dependent on how he performed. His results have not been great, but he has endured, and he has said he’s had fun. If he does choose to pitch next season, it won’t necessarily be as an Angel, and, perhaps for that reason, Weaver said, he felt unusually emotional before Monday’s game. He sought out workers to greet as he walked down the tunnel to the field.

“It’s a weird feeling,” Weaver said. “I’ve been here for 11 years and it’s all I’ve known and it’s different, for sure.”

In the fourth inning, Mike Trout launched a 436-foot homer for the Angels’ first run. In the sixth, he worked his career-high 111th walk of the season. In the eighth, the Athletics intentionally walked him to load the bases for Albert Pujols, who dribbled a baseball down the line. The winning run scored when pitcher Ryan Dull could not field it cleanly to throw home.

Short hops

Left-hander Tyler Skaggs, scratched from his start earlier this month because of a strain in his left forearm, will throw a 40-pitch bullpen session Tuesday. If no pain is detected, he said, he and the team will discuss the possibility of him pitching in Sunday’s season finale. … Escobar did not play Sunday while grieving the death of Cuban countryman Jose Fernandez, but played Monday with Fernandez’s initials and number written on his eye black.

FROM OC REGISTER

Reality is hitting Angels' Jered Weaver during what could be his final week in majors

By JEFF FLETCHER / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – In what could be the final week of his 11-year run with the Angels, reality is coming down hard on Jered Weaver.

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Weaver said it was “a little emotional coming down the tunnel here” before his penultimate start of the season, five scoreless innings in the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Monday night.

“It’s a weird feeling,” said Weaver, 33. “I’ve been here for 11 years and it’s all I’ve known. It’s different for sure. I’m just still concentrating on committing myself to getting out there for that last start. That’s how I’m going to look at it from now on.”

His last start, scheduled for Sunday’s season finale, was in some doubt after Weaver left Monday’s game with back tightness. Weaver, however, said after the game that he has no concern.

“I should be alright,” he said. “I’ve dealt with it. It didn’t get to the point where it got any worse. Just doing some maintenance like I’ve done before, I usually bounce back pretty good.”

That maintenance is what Weaver, by his own admission, let go over the past few years. He paid the price with reduced velocity and effectiveness, turning him from an ace to a back-of-the-rotation starter.

This year, he has slowly been trying to rediscover himself through stretching. His 5.06 ERA doesn’t speak for much improvement, but his fastball has gotten a tick firmer, and he’s proven to be durable all season.

Asked if he feels he’s pitched well enough to earn a job with the Angels next season, Weaver said: “I would think so. I’m not throwing the ball the way I would like to. It’s been a lot better over the last four or five starts. My body is feeling a lot better, minus the little setback today.”

Weaver had three quality starts in five outings before Monday, which was one of his more effective games of the season … while it lasted.

Weaver retired the first 14 hitters of the game before allowing a single in the fifth. He got out of that inning, but then was done at 71 pitches. He said his back began to tighten up during the fourth and it got worse in the fifth.

“Just decided before it got any worse to try to take a step back,” he said. “Same stuff I’ve dealt with before.”

Despite the latest issue, he said the way he feels is proof to him that he can pitch next season.

“I feel like I can,” he said. “I feel like my body is responding to what I’ve been doing over the past year and a half, two years. I haven’t really thought about next year, to tell you the truth. I have been focused on getting through this one.”

Weaver also addressed the issue of whether he could return in a bullpen role: “I still consider myself a starter. That’s where my heart is. That’s what I’ve been working toward, to get better and prove to people I can still do that.”

All of those questions aren’t likely to be answered anytime soon. The Angels certainly won’t be able to decide if they want Weaver back until more of their offseason plans crystallize. And Weaver won’t know for sure if he wants to pitch until he knows what the choices are. A

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Southern California native and a father of two small children, Weaver would be unlikely to go pitch someplace like Tampa just for the sake of keeping a uniform.

“It’s a decision I’ll have to make in the next couple months,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to sit down with the wife and talk about what’s going to happen.”

Weaver was in line for one more victory when he left, with a 1-0 lead on Monday, but Deolis Guerra gave up a homer to Stephen Vogt to tie the game in the sixth.

The Angels scored the go-ahead run on Albert Pujols’ RBI groundout in the eighth.

The first run came courtesy of Mike Trout, who hit his 29th homer as he polishes off the last few lines of his MVP resume.

Trout, who also singled and walked twice, now has 29 homers and 98 RBI, to go along with a .318 average. He needs one more homer and three more steals to have his second 30-30 season.

His OPS now stands at 1.001. He has never finished a season with an OPS of 1.000.

Angels Notes: Garrett Richards feels ready to pitch

By J.P. HOORNSTRA / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – Garrett Richards continues to take steps toward pitching in 2017, avoiding the Tommy John surgery that at one point seemed a foregone conclusion.

“I feel like I could go pitch in a game right now,” Richards said Monday. “Obviously there’s no point, but if they needed me to pitch the last game of the year, I could.”

Richards, who received stem-cell treatment after learning he had a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in May, has been throwing for just over a month. His next milestone will come on Wednesday, when he faces three hitters in a one-inning simulated game at Angel Stadium.

After that, Richards is scheduled to pitch two innings in a game in instructional league on Oct. 3, the day after the end of the regular season. That will be his first time facing another team in a competitive situation.

Richards would then pitch about three innings on Oct. 8 and about four or five on Oct. 13.

If he passes all those tests, he will return to Southern California for another exam and possibly another stem-cell injection, followed by more rest until he resumes throwing in January.

“He’s passed every test with flying colors so far,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’ll get a good look at him in instructional league and we’ll answer a lot of questions going into the offseason.”

WHAT ABOUT SKAGGS?

Tyler Skaggs, who has been shut down because of a mild flexor pronator strain, said he felt fine after a 20-pitch bullpen session on Sunday and he was scheduled for a 40-pitch session on Tuesday.

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If that goes well, Skaggs still could pitch in one of the Angels' final games this week. Otherwise, he will pitch in the instructional league.

The Angels and Skaggs just want to get him into a game situation to make sure he's OK heading into the winter. Skaggs said he just needs a couple innings.

GRIEVING PLAYERS

Scioscia could appreciate what the Miami Marlins have gone through, losing Jose Fernandez after a boating accident. Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident early in the 2009 season.

Scioscia said the personal tragedy -- "You realize that chair is going to be empty at Thanksgiving" -- is obviously much worse than the baseball side, but it's nonetheless difficult to get back to work, as the Marlins did with a game on Monday.

"This game has a way of sucking you in," Scioscia said. "Those guys are out there playing and there are not a lot of things that will distract you, but something like this weighs so heavy on you that there is dead time in the game that you will feel it."

Several Angels players knew Fernandez, but the loss hit fellow Cuban Yunel Escobar the hardest. Escobar was too shaken up to play on Sunday, but he was back in the Angels' lineup on Monday.

FROM ANGELS.COM

Trout goes deep as Angels top A's

By Austin Laymance and Jane Lee / MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- Angels manager Mike Scioscia wants to see his players play hard through the final week of the regular season, and they did just that with an eighth-inning rally to beat the A's in the opener of their final homestand of the year, 2-1.

Albert Pujols scored Yunel Escobar with a dribbler down the first-base line that A's reliever Ryan Dull had trouble fielding.

It appeared that Dull had a chance to get an out at the plate if he fielded the ball cleanly, but the rookie reliever bobbled it and was forced to take the out at first, allowing Escobar to score the deciding run.

Trout opened the scoring with a home run to left leading off the fourth inning. It was the 29th homer of the year for the American League MVP candidate. Trout's solo shot off A's starter Sean Manaea had an exit velocity of 107 mph and traveled a projected 436 feet, according to Statcast™.

Stephen Vogt tied the game with a solo shot to right with two outs in the sixth off Angels right-hander Deolis Guerra, who relieved starter Jered Weaver to open the inning. Weaver allowed one hit over five innings and was removed after 71 pitches with low back tightness.

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Manaea worked seven solid innings for the A's, scattering four hits and striking out three against one walk.

"I was pounding the strike zone with my fastball and just getting ahead of guys -- except for Trout," Manaea said.

The Angels got scoreless innings from three different relievers in Jose Valdez, JC Ramirez and Andrew Bailey, who nailed down his sixth save in as many opportunities since joining the Angels on Sept. 2.

"I think he's rolling with a lot of confidence now," manager Mike Scioscia said of Bailey. "There's no doubt this month he's opened up some eyes."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Trout owns the A's: Trout, who went 2-for-2 and walked twice, is hitting .433 (26-for-60) with five homers and 11 RBIs in 16 games against the A's this season. His two walks (one intentional) raised his season total to 112, which is a career-high and one shy of tying the franchise record for a single season, set by Tony Phillips in 1995.

Fumble: After intentionally walking Trout to load the bases with one out in the eighth, Dull induced a dribbler off the bat of Pujols, only to bobble it and take away any chance of a potential play at the plate. Instead, Dull was forced to get the out at first, allowing the go-ahead Angels run to score.

"I was going too fast because I knew I wanted to try anything possible to get the guy at home," Dull said. "It's really frustrating when you know you executed the pitch you wanted and it just didn't go to the exact spot you wanted it to. You get the weak contact and that's all you can ask for."

Weaver exits early: Weaver retired the first 14 batters he faced before allowing a single to Danny Valencia with two outs in the fifth. He said it's something he's dealt with in the past and he expects to start the season finale on Sunday, which could be his last start in an Angels uniform as he heads into an uncertain offseason as a free agent.

"It just started tightening up on me in the fourth," said Weaver. "Stuff I have dealt with in the past. Tried to pitch through it there in the fifth and just kind of guarding against it and couldn't really finish pitches there and just decided that before it got any worse to kind of take a step back."

Manaea on cruise control: Manaea's second-half work has been highly encouraging. The rookie left-hander, who needed just 86 pitches to complete seven innings on Monday, has allowed just one run in 18 innings since returning from a back injury that sidelined him for two weeks. Dating back to Aug. 23, Manaea has limited opponents to two earned runs across 28 1/3 innings for a 0.64 ERA over that span.

"He's been everything that we want him to be," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Aside from a few outings early on where he was kind of getting his feet wet and learning the league, he's been borderline dominant at times ever since, and against good lineups too. He did his job and has been doing it for quite a while now."

September 27, 2016 Page 9 of 13

QUOTABLE "I was telling a couple guys it was a little emotional coming down the tunnel here and I tried to say 'hi' to as many workers and things to that effect as I could. It's a weird feeling. I've been here for 11 years and it's all I've know and it's different, for sure. I'm still concentrated on committing myself to getting out there for that last start and it's how I'm going to look at it from now on." -- Weaver on the emotions of what could be his final week with the Angels

WHAT'S NEXT A's: Rookie right-hander Daniel Mengden gets the ball in Tuesday's 7:05 p.m. PT matchup with the host Angels. Mengden, who has never faced the Angels, has a 4.25 ERA and .232 opponents average in five starts on the road, compared to a 6.86 ERA and .293 opponents average in eight outings at home.

Angels: Ricky Nolasco (7-14, 4.60 ERA) starts for the Angels on Tuesday against the A's. The Halos have lost both of Nolasco's starts against Oakland since he came over from the Twins at the Trade Deadline. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PT.

Weaver departs start with back tightness

Veteran pitcher uncertain if this is final season with Angels

By Austin Laymance / MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- Jered Weaver had to leave Monday's start against the A's after five innings because of tightness in his lower back, but he's confident he will make his start on Sunday against the Astros in the final game of the regular season. That start could very well be his last in an Angels uniform, as the 11-year veteran is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career.

"It's a little weird," Weaver said after the Angels beat the A's, 2-1, in regards to the emotions of the final week of the season. "It's different. Something I've never gone through or dealt with before, not knowing what the future holds and not knowing what is going to happen next year.

"I was telling a couple guys it was a little emotional coming down the tunnel here and I tried to say 'hi' to as many workers and things to that effect as I could. It's a weird feeling. I've been here for 11 years and it's all I've known and it's different, for sure. I'm still concentrated on committing myself to getting out there for that last start and it's how I'm going to look at it from now on."

Weaver has been the most consistent start for the Angels all season. The club is 16-15 in his 31 starts and he's pitched to a 12-12 record with a 5.06 ERA over 178 innings. He leads the team in wins, starts and innings.

The body of work this season makes Weaver think he's made a strong case to return to the Angels in 2017.

"I would think so," he said. "Like I've said before, I'm not throwing the ball the way I would like to. It's been a lot better over the last four or five starts and my body is feeling a lot better,

September 27, 2016 Page 10 of 13

minus the little setback today. It's a decision that I will have to make in the next couple months at least. It will be interesting to sit down with the wife and talk about it and see what's going to happen."

Weaver, who turns 34 on Oct. 4, was asked if it's fair to say he hasn't made a decision about whether he wants to pitch next season.

"I feel like I can," he said. "I feel like my body is responding to what I've been doing over the past really year and a half, two years. I haven't really thought about next season, to tell you the truth. I've just been focused on getting through this one."

A starter for his entire career, Weaver was asked if he would consider a transition to the bullpen.

"I don't know," he said. "I had this conversation with [Troy Tulowitzki] not too long ago when Toronto was in town. I think there's kind of a sense of pride in that I think that I can still be a starter. He was saying that he wants to play shortstop for as long as he can. He doesn't really want to make the move over to third. I think that's just the competitiveness in us.

"I've always been a starter. I've made one relief appearance in my career, and that was a playoff game. I think that if it got to the point where I needed to go to the bullpen, it might leave me in a decision that I would have to make. But for now I still consider myself a starter and that's where my heart is and that's what I've been working towards to get better and prove to people I can still do that."

Weaver said he plans to sit down with reporters this week to discuss his future.

Scioscia has fond memories of Scully

By Austin Laymance / MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- Angels manager Mike Scioscia got to know Vin Scully well during his 13-year playing career with the Dodgers, and he still remembers the first time he met the legendary broadcaster during his first big league Spring Training in Vero Beach, Fla., in 1980.

"I just know as a youngster in Vero Beach, my first Spring Training, he made it a point to go around and introduce himself to all the rookies that were in camp and he knew about us and knew where we were from and had a conversation with us, just talking to us," Scioscia said Monday.

"It was something at the time you were in awe of, but as time passes by, I think it was just indicative of what a special person he is. He's a very, very sincere person."

Scully, 88, called his final game at Dodger Stadium on Sunday and has three more broadcasts this weekend in San Francisco that will tie a bow on his unprecedented 67 years in the broadcast booth.

"Vin is such a true gentleman," Scioscia said. "His real passion is not only the game of baseball, but life and family and his faith and he lives it every day."

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Worth noting • Pitcher Tyler Skaggs will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday as he works his way back from a mild flexor pronator strainin his left forearm, Scioscia said.

Skaggs, in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, would like to pitch in a regular-season game, though the Angels might hold him out until the instructional league next month in Arizona. Skaggs has not pitched in a game since Sept. 9.

• Catcher Geovany Soto (left knee inflammation) caught a bullpen session on Monday and the Angels want to see how his knee responds before deciding on the next step of his rehab. The veteran catcher has been on the disabled list since Aug. 15.

Richards set to throw live BP on Wednesday

By Austin Laymance / MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- Garrett Richards is set to pitch live batting practice on Wednesday, the first time the Angels' Opening Day starter will face hitters since he suffered a tear to the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in May. Richards said he plans to make three appearances in the team's instructional league in Arizona in October before shutting down his throwing program over the winter.

"I feel as fresh as Day 1 of Spring Training," Richards said Monday afternoon at Angel Stadium before the series opener against the A's.

Richards' progression is a positive sign for the Angels. The right-hander has avoided Tommy John surgery, opting instead for stem-cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma injections. If things continue on their current track, Richards feels he would be ready for Spring Training. He even said Monday he feels well enough to pitch in a regular season.

"I feel like I can go pitch in a game now," said Richards, who had a 2.34 ERA in six starts before the injury. "Obviously, there is no point in pitching in a game right now. If we were going to the playoffs, who knows? We might be going down a different path, with how my bullpens have gone and stuff."

Richards said he's been using all of his pitches in his bullpen sessions the past few weeks and "everything is fine."

The plan is for Richards to face three hitters in live batting practice on Wednesday afternoon. From there, Richards plans to pitch in the instructional league on Oct. 3, with a maximum of 30 pitches. All told, Richards is slated to make three appearances in Arizona, pitching every five days and adding 15 pitches with each outing to build to 60 pitches. He will do his normal between-starts work in Arizona as well.

If all goes well, Richards said he would return to Southern California following instructional league on Oct. 13 to visit with Dr. Steve Yoon for an MRI and possible PRP injection in his elbow. After the followup visit, Richards plans to stop throwing until resuming his throwing program on Jan. 1.

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"He's passed every test with flying colors so far," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think that we'll get a good look at him in the instructional league. I think we'll hopefully answer a lot of questions going into the offseason if he performs well. ... And then just give some piece of mind to Garrett and look forward to Spring Training.

Nolasco looks to keep hot streak going vs. A's

By Jane Lee / MLB.com |

A's rookie right-hander Daniel Mengden looks to make a lasting impression in his final start of the 2016 season Tuesday, when his club takes on the Angels in the second of a three-game series at Angel Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PT.

Anaheim will counter with right-hander Ricky Nolasco, who takes a 7-14 record and 4.60 ERA into the contest. Mengden, meanwhile, is 2-8 with a 5.74 ERA, having struggled to find consistency during his big league tenure this season.

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Trout's HR, Pujols' RBI send Angels to 2-1 win over Oakland

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- If Jered Weaver is in his final week with the Los Angeles Angels, the veteran right-hander will try to finish his 11 seasons the right way.

And if he returns to his only big-league team next year, Weaver has a strong finish to build upon.

Weaver pitched five scoreless innings of one-hit ball before leaving with lower-back tightness, and the Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 2-1 on Monday night when Yunel Escobar scored on Albert Pujols' weak grounder in the eighth.

Weaver retired Oakland's first 14 batters before Danny Valencia's fifth-inning single, using his deception and control to flummox the A's in what could be his penultimate start at the Big A. The stalwart of the Angels' rotation since 2006 doesn't yet have a contract for next season, but he has strung together a series of solid starts down the stretch.

"It's a little weird," Weaver said. "It's different, something I've never gone through or dealt with before, not knowing what the future holds. It was a little emotional coming down the tunnel here."

Weaver was removed after just 71 pitches when his back tightened up on a 90-degree night in Anaheim, but he doesn't think the injury will stop him from pitching Sunday in the Angels' season finale.

After the game, Weaver said he plans to reflect on his past and future this week. He didn't specify whether he is contemplating retirement if the Angels don't want him back.

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"My body is feeling a lot better, minus the little setback today," Weaver said. "It's a decision that I'll have to make in the next couple months, at least. It'll be interesting to sit down with the wife and talk about it and see what's going to happen."

Mike Trout hit his 29th homer early in the Angels' fifth victory in six games.

Stephen Vogt homered in the sixth inning for the last-place A's, who have lost six of seven.

After Sean Manaea largely shut down Los Angeles for seven innings, the Angels broke through against Ryan Dull (5-5). Escobar singled, advanced on Kole Calhoun's double and scored when Pujols got his 119th RBI on a 45-foot grounder back to Dull, who bobbled it just enough to stop him from throwing home.

J.C. Ramirez (2-1) pitched the eighth and former A's closer Andrew Baileyearned his sixth save for the Angels (70-87), who opened their final homestand of the season needing to go 6-0 to match their worst record since 1999. Los Angeles has missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons.

BIG FISH

Trout homered leading off the fourth, driving in his 98th run. The AL MVP candidate hasn't let up despite the Angels' woes: He drew his major league-best 111th walk in the sixth inning to set a career high, and he added his 112th walk in the eighth, pulling one behind Tony Phillips for the Angels franchise record.

BIG SEAN

Manaea pitched seven sharp innings of four-hit ball for the A's, extending his strong finish to the season. The rookie left-hander has allowed one run in 18 innings over his last three starts after a two-week absence with a back strain.

"He's everything that we want him to be," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Manaea. "Aside from a few outings early on ... he's been borderline dominant, and against good lineups. He's been good all year long."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Athletics: OF Josh Lambo rejoined the team for batting practice three months after testicular cancer surgery. He's hoping to play winter ball next month.

Angels: RHP Garrett Richards will throw live batting practice Wednesday. He hasn't faced hitters since tearing an elbow ligament in May.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Daniel Mengden (2-8, 5.74 ERA) has the lowest winning percentage in the AL, but is 2-1 with a .232 opponents' batting average on the road this season.

Angels: Ricky Nolasco (7-14, 4.60) has won his last two starts, throwing 13 scoreless innings. He also threw a shutout at the Big A earlier this season.