Angels look to avoid series sweep against the Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Los Angeles Angels (11-12, fourth in the AL West)

Anaheim, California; Thursday, 9:29 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3, 7.41 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 14 strikeouts); Angels: Tyler John Anderson (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 21 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angeles Angels play in the last game of a three-game series. The Pirates can sweep the series with a win.

Los Angeles has gone 4-4 in home games and 11-12 overall. The Angels are 6-2 in games when they scored five or more runs.

Pittsburgh has a 4-8 record in road games and a 10-15 record overall. The Pirates have a 3-10 record in games when they have allowed at least one home run.

The matchup Thursday is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Taylor Ward has four doubles and six home runs for the Angels. Nolan Schanuel is 8-for-34 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa has a .291 batting average to lead the Pirates, and has three doubles and a triple. Bryan Reynolds is 14-for-40 with a home run and seven RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Angels: 3-7, .180 batting average, 3.87 ERA, outscored by 16 runs

Pirates: 5-5, .269 batting average, 3.00 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

INJURIES: Angels: Ben Joyce: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Yoan Moncada: 10-Day IL (thumb), Sam Bachman: 15-Day IL (upper body), Robert William Stephenson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Anthony Rendon: 60-Day IL (hip)

Pirates: Tim Mayza: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Endy Rodriguez: 10-Day IL (finger), Colin Holderman: 15-Day IL (knee), Jared Jones: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Gonzales: 10-Day IL (ankle), Spencer Horwitz: 10-Day IL (wrist), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Dauri Moreta: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.