Eric Wagaman will finish up his first major league homestand when the Los Angeles Angels face the Chicago White Sox in the decisive game of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
So far, so good for the 27-year-old third baseman.
Wagaman, a 13th-round pick of the New York Yankees in the 2017 draft, was promoted from Triple-A Salt Lake by the Angels on Sept. 10. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs in Los Angeles' 5-0 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday night.
In his past four games, Wagaman, who grew up in nearby Aliso Viejo attending Angels games, has gone 7-for-16 (.437) with two homers, three doubles and four RBIs.
"It's been special being here for this homestand," Wagaman said. "I've got plenty of friends and family in the stands. This has been awesome. This has been great."
Angels manager Ron Washington said, "He's showing he has tremendous bat-to-ball skills. He lets the ball travel. He stays behind. He's got some power. We just have to wait and see where it goes. It's been impressive."
The Tuesday win snapped a six-game losing streak for Los Angeles (61-90). Wagaman homered for the second straight game, this one a 434-foot blast into the rock pile in left-center.
"I'm trying to learn from at-bat to at-bat and just keep trying to build off each one," Wagaman said.
The Angels also got a strong bounce-back start from Griffin Canning, who allowed just three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings while striking out six. Canning had allowed a career-high 10 runs (nine earned) in his previous start, a 10-5 loss at Minnesota on Sept. 10.
Chicago (36-116), which had a rare three-game winning streak snapped, finished with just six hits, including two each by Dominic Fletcher and Nicky Lopez. The White Sox were shut out for the major-league-high 19th time this season.
"We really didn't get any momentum going," White Sox manager Grady Sizemore said. "I thought we had some chances, had some decent at-bats. Again, just couldn't string anything together to create some offense. Just one of those days."
One all too familiar to Chicago fans this season. The White Sox must go 7-3 over their final 10 games to avoid tying the modern major league record for losses in a season (120), set by the 1962 New York Mets. The American League record for losses is 119, set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers.
Left-hander Jared Shuster (1-4, 4.54 ERA) will try to help Chicago win its second straight series on Wednesday. It will be the first career appearance against the Angels for Shuster, who will be making just his fourth start of the season in an opener's role.
Los Angeles will counter with rookie Jack Kochanowicz (2-5, 5.08).
The right-hander has dropped his past two starts, including a 6-4 loss at Minnesota on Sept. 11, when he allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk over 5 2/3 innings while striking out three. That snapped a string of five consecutive quality starts for Kochanowicz, the first Angels pitcher to accomplish that feat that since Shohei Ohtani in 2021.
Kochanowicz, a rookie, has yet to oppose the White Sox.