The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels will play the third game of their four-game series Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., as the Guardians try to rediscover their offense.

Cleveland’s bats were hot early, the club scoring 44 runs during a four-game stretch from April 10-13, making it the top-scoring team in the majors. And it was that hot stretch that somewhat obscured the slow start of cleanup hitter Franmil Reyes.

Now that the Guardians’ offense has come back to earth, Reyes’ struggles are more evident. Including Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Angels, the Guardians have scored just eight runs in their past five games, all losses.

That has put the spotlight on Reyes, who hit 30 homers last year and a combined 37 in 2019 while playing for San Diego and Cleveland.

Reyes has two home runs this season, coming in back-to-back games last Thursday (against the White Sox) and Friday (against the Yankees). His home run in Yankee Stadium was an opposite-field homer, leading Cleveland manager Terry Francona to believe Reyes found his stroke.

“That’s a good sign,” Francona said at the time. “When he’s hitting the ball to the right side, and you’re going to get rewarded here for that. That should help loosen him up and make him feel better about himself, because when he’s dangerous, we’re different.”

But it turned out it wasn’t the turnaround Reyes was looking for. Since that home run in the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium last Friday, Reyes is 0-for-13 with nine strikeouts, including his 0-for-4, four-strikeout performance Tuesday against Los Angeles.

“I’m trying to remember who I am when I’m a good hitter, what part of the field I use more,” Reyes said. “I’m trying to let the ball beat me (get deeper in the strike zone) a little more. I think that’s the key.”

Right-hander Zach Plesac (1-1, 1.53 ERA) will make his fourth start of the year for Cleveland, coming off his best start of the season last Thursday. Plesac gave up two runs (one earned) in 6 2/3 innings in a victory over the White Sox.

He is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in two starts against the Angels in his career.

Right-hander Shohei Ohtani (1-2, 4.40 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season for Los Angeles, also coming off his best start of the season. Last Wednesday against Houston, Ohtani threw six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out 12 and walking one. Ohtani was perfect until Astros catcher Jason Castro singled with one out in the sixth.

If Ohtani is to feed off his last start, it’s likely he’ll rely on his slider, which he threw 35 times in his 81 pitches.

He’s had one career start against Cleveland, getting a no-decision after allowing two runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Offensively, Ohtani is yet to get hot. He went 1-for-4 with a run scored and one strikeout on Tuesday and is now hitting .213 with a .645 OPS, considerably below his career OPS of .878.

“It’s just confidence right now,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s so good, but it’s all about confidence. He’s going to get hot, like scalding hot, soon.”

–Field Level Media

The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in the finale of a two-game interleague series between the San Francisco Bay Area neighbors.

Starting with their four-game sweep in the 1989 World Series, the A’s held a 73-61 upper hand over the Giants until the West Bay team took four of six last season.

San Francisco took an additional cut out of the deficit with an 8-2 victory in the series opener Tuesday, giving the Giants three consecutive victories dating back to a pair last August that clinched the annual Bay Bridge Series.

One night after getting dominant starting pitching from Carlos Rodon, Giants manager Gabe Kapler announced the series finale would be a bullpen game for the second time in three days.

Left-hander Sam Long (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who worked the first inning as the first of eight regular relievers who combined on a five-hitter in Monday’s 4-2 win at Milwaukee, is expected to take the mound first.

The A’s fared no better against the San Francisco bullpen than they did against Rodon in the series opener.

After the veteran left-hander had allowed one run and three hits in six innings, striking out nine, relievers Dominic Leone, Jarlin Garcia, Yunior Marte and Kervin Castro gave Oakland just one more run and two more hits over the final three innings, striking out six.

Oakland manager Mark Kotsay noted after the loss that the Giants can expect to see more of Sheldon Neuse. Playing third base, he had two of the A’s five hits, raising his season average to .327, in addition to stealing two bases.

Neuse has made starts at first, second and third base this season, helping Kotsay fill holes left by injuries to players such as Jed Lowrie and Chad Pinder.

“He did a great job,” Kotsay praised of Neuse’s effort on Tuesday. “Sheldon is really taking advantage of the opportunity right now and really playing well.”

The A’s are expected to counter with right-hander Paul Blackburn (2-0, 1.80), who has been an early-season surprise.

A native of the Oakland suburb of Antioch, Blackburn has pitched Oakland to three straight wins, going five innings in each and never allowing more than two runs. He limited Baltimore to one run and three hits in a 6-4 win in his most recent outing last Thursday.

Blackburn has made one previous start against the Giants, that coming in July 2017 in Oakland. He was the winning pitcher that day in an 8-5 victory despite serving up five runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

That Giants lineup did not feature either Wilmer Flores or Austin Slater, the two big hitters in Tuesday’s win. Each smacked three-run homers, with Flores adding a run-scoring double to complete a four-RBI night.

Slater, who often doesn’t start against righties, expects to be called upon at some point of the series finale. He entered Tuesday’s game as a pinch hitter, before staying in the contest and eventually belting his homer.

“That’s what the role has been defined as,” Slater said. “We support each other. We’re ready whenever that call comes. (Kapler) likes to switch it up.”

–Field Level Media

From an individual perspective, Houston Astros veteran right-hander Jake Odorizzi was in desperate need of something positive and the performance he delivered on Tuesday certainly qualified.

Odorizzi worked six strong innings in the Astros’ 5-1 road victory over the Texas Rangers, a win that enabled Houston to square this four-game series with the third game set for Wednesday.

From a macro perspective, the Astros needed Odorizzi to give them some length. Houston is in the midst of playing 17 consecutive days and is scheduled to play 33 games in 34 days.

Astros manager Dusty Baker will utilize a six-man rotation to alleviate some stress on his starters, with right-handed reliever Cristian Javier set to make his first start of the season on Wednesday.

After allowing six runs (three earned) on two hits and four walks while recording only two outs in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, Odorizzi surrendered one hit and retired the final 12 batters he faced against Texas.

Odorizzi not only helped himself with his performance, he boosted the entire pitching staff.

“We needed it, our bullpen needed it,” Baker said. “We needed the win. The last outing was a little rough so it was good to see him smiling after the game and feel good about himself.”

Javier (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his 20th career start. He is 9-3 with a 3.35 ERA over 51 career appearances (19 starts).

He has made three scoreless relief appearances this season, allowing five hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings. Javier logged 3 2/3 innings in his previous outing in the ramp-up for this start, allowing three hits and one walk with four strikeouts against the Angels on April 20.

Javier is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA over eight career appearances (four starts) against the Rangers, including a 1-0 record and 2.79 ERA over six appearances (two starts) last season, with 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Glenn Otto (1-0, 1.80 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Rangers. He made his season debut against the Oakland Athletics on Friday, allowing one run on two hits and one walk with five strikeouts over five innings in an 8-1 victory, the first of his career.

Otto replaced Jon Gray in the rotation after Gray landed on the 10-day injured list for the second time.

A Houston native and Rice University product, Otto is 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA over two career starts against the Astros, with both coming at home.

Otto made his major league debut against Houston and twirled five shutout innings on Aug. 27, 2021, but did not factor into the decision. In his second outing against the Astros, he surrendered seven runs on seven hits and four walks over 3 1/3 innings on Sept. 16, 2021.

Unlike Odorizzi, the Rangers did not get the rebound performance they were seeking from left-hander Taylor Hearn, who entered Tuesday having allowed eight runs on 11 hits and five walks over 6 2/3 innings in his last two starts.

The Astros tagged Hearn for four runs on five hits and one walk over five innings, leaving more questions over how to get his issues ironed out.

“Overall it was just average,” Texas manager Chris Woodward said. “Better than last time but not quite what we were looking for, obviously.”

–Field Level Media

Michael Pineda will face his former team when the visiting Detroit Tigers play the Minnesota Twins for the second installment of a three-game series on Wednesday night.

Pineda, 33, pitched for the Twins for three seasons from 2019-21 before signing a free-agent deal with Detroit before the start of this season. The veteran right-hander went 22-13 with a 3.80 ERA in 53 games (52 starts) for Minnesota.

Despite Pineda’s solid statistics, the Twins opted not to re-sign him during the offseason. Instead, Minnesota reshaped its rotation by adding veterans such as Sonny Gray, Chris Archer, Chris Paddack and Dylan Bundy.

“It wouldn’t have been a bad thing, that’s for sure,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, referring to the opportunity to re-sign Pineda. “Mike Pineda did some incredible things for us, pitched a lot of winning ball games for us, whenever we needed him. And he’s an excellent human being to be around. …

“I trust our process and the way we assemble our group. There were versions of the team that could have included Mike. Obviously, (it) played out this way. I can’t wait to see Mike. I shouldn’t say I’m looking forward to seeing him pitch against us, but I look forward to seeing him in the flesh and see his big smile and hopefully catch up with him a little bit.”

Pineda (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitched five scoreless innings in his season debut against the New York Yankees on Thursday. He allowed three hits, walked none and struck out two.

In five career starts against the Twins, Pineda is 1-1 with a 3.54 ERA.

The Twins will counter with right-hander Joe Ryan (2-1, 1.69 ERA), who is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season. He has allowed only nine hits in 16 innings this season while also walking five and striking out 16.

In his most recent start, Ryan tossed six scoreless innings against the Kansas City Royals to earn his second straight win. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out five.

This will be Ryan’s second career start against Detroit. He struggled mightily in his first matchup, giving up six runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings in September.

The Tigers hope to bounce back from a gut-wrenching loss in the series opener Tuesday night. They led 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth when catcher Eric Haase committed a throwing error that allowed the tying and winning runs to score.

The defensive miscue spoiled a terrific night at the plate for Javier Baez, who hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth. Baez finished with four RBIs.

Detroit will have help in the bullpen after reinstating left-hander Andrew Chafin from the 10-day injured list Tuesday. Chafin, who signed as a free agent with Detroit during the offseason, has yet to pitch this season because of a left groin strain sustained during spring training.

“I just want to go out there, throw up zeroes and do my job, whatever is asked of me,” Chafin said. “If it’s the fifth inning, ninth inning, I don’t care. I’m just going to get outs.”

–Field Level Media