After struggling vs. O's, Angels welcome Tigers

The Los Angeles Angels celebrated an exciting walk-off win on Sunday afternoon, but that moment alone couldn't overshadow a glaring problem that surfaced time and again over the weekend for the American League West club.

The inability to beat one of baseball's worst teams at home.

Sunday's 5-4 win, capped by rookie third baseman Matt Thaiss' walk-off home run (his second of the game), saved the Angels the embarrassment of being swept at home by the lowly Baltimore Orioles.

"I don't know if I've ever done that before. It was cool," Thaiss said on the Angels' postgame radio show of his first multi-homer game. "Every win is huge. Hopefully, we can carry it to tomorrow."

The Orioles, owners of the second-worst record in baseball (35-70), were victorious in the first three games of the four-game series and held a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning in the series finale before home runs by Albert Pujols and then Thaiss bailed out the Angels.

Nonetheless, the Orioles -- last in the AL East -- won the season series 4-3. And now, a supposedly even more beatable opponent arrives in Southern California for the first of a three-game set Monday.

The Detroit Tigers, whose 30-71 record is the majors' worst, come to Los Angeles having lost six straight, 12 of 13, and 14 of 16 since the All-Star break.

And the Angels have had success at home against Detroit: Los Angeles is 52-18 against the Tigers in Anaheim dating back to 2002.

Right-hander Jaime Barria (4-3, 6.63 ERA) usually follows an opener, but he will get the start Monday with the bullpen taxed after a 6-hour, 19 minute epic loss in 16 innings to the Orioles on Thursday that set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Barria, 23, has made just one appearance against the Tigers, a start last August in which he worked 5 2/3 innings at home. He gave up five hits, fanned five and walked one to record the win in the Angels' 6-0 victory.

The biggest mystery around the Tigers may be what manager Ron Gardenhire's team will look like after the trade deadline passes at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

While not much has gone well for the Detroit, the team does boast a pair of strong arms on its staff -- starter Matthew Boyd and closer Shane Greene -- who have playoff-bound teams and postseason hopefuls interested.

The lefty Boyd, 28, is 6-8 with a 3.94 ERA, and he fanned 10 in 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday in his last start before the deadline.

Greene, 30, has 22 saves in 25 chances.

As for Monday, Jordan Zimmermann (0-8, 7.57) will make his 14th start this season, and he has struggled in his four starts in July, going 0-3 with a 14.09 ERA.

The right-hander has not pitched against the Angels this season, but despite his 0-2 lifetime record against them in two starts, he does sport a 2.70 in 13 1/3 innings against Los Angeles. One Angels player who has hit Zimmermann well is catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who is 8-for-24 with two home runs and two RBI in his career against the pitcher.

But Lucroy has not played in the majors since a collision at home plate with Houston's Jake Marisnick on July 7 and just began a rehab stint in the minors.

Regardless of who starts, the Tigers have been bad. Incredibly bad.

The team is 4-28 in its last 32 games and is even worse against AL West opponents, who have beaten Detroit in 24 of the last 25 games.

"We just don't seem to get any breaks," Gardenhire said after Sunday's 3-2 loss in Seattle.

--Field Level Media