BASEBALL: Angels' Sam Aldegheri aims to follow up strong effort in finale vs. D-backs

Los Angeles Angels left-hander Sam Aldegheri hopes his performances this month will be enough to keep him in the starting rotation this time.

Aldegheri will get his next opportunity to impress his major-league club when he takes the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the decisive contest of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix.

He will try to follow up the performance of fellow left-hander Reid Detmers, who threw seven shutout innings on Tuesday in a 7-0 win against the Diamondbacks.

Aldegheri (2-1, 2.12 ERA) tossed 6 1/3 innings of strong relief over two appearances earlier this month before making his second start of the season and seventh of his three-year career last Friday against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

He held the Rays to two runs (one earned) and three hits in five innings to earn the victory in the 4-3 win.

"I thought he pitched great," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. "He commanded his fastball to both sides of the plate, getting in on those righties. And then obviously the changeup's been a weapon for him, and he mixed in some breaking balls. But I think the biggest thing for him was attacking the strike zone. He was getting ahead, he was putting guys away, so it was nice."

Aldegheri struck out four and walked three against the Rays, the second-place team in the American League East.

"You've got to throw strikes and attack these guys because, at the end of the day, confidence is the most important thing for me," Aldegheri said. "I'm really glad that they gave me the opportunity to start (against the Rays). I wanted to show that I'm able to handle these games."

Aldegheri was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline two years ago for closer Carlos Estevez. He made his MLB debut in September of that season and made two more starts last season along with two relief appearances.

His latest performance put him in position to possibly keep a spot in the rotation for a while, Suzuki said.

"He certainly made a case," Suzuki said. "He pitched his butt off (against the Rays) and definitely put himself in the conversation."

Aldegheri has yet to pitch against the Diamondbacks in his career.

Fellow left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is set to start the series finale for Arizona.

Rodriguez (5-2, 2.55 ERA) is coming off his shortest outing of the season, lasting just 2 2/3 innings last Friday in a 5-2 win at the Cincinnati Reds.

The abbreviated performance began when Rodriguez needed 40 pitches to get through the scoreless first inning. He was up to 85 pitches after getting the second out of the third inning.

"I feel bad because, as a starter, I have to go deep into games and I went just 2 2/3, but at least I was able to hold that (first) inning right there and then in the next inning and a half, too. I'm happy about that part," Rodriguez said. "And then we ended up winning the game. It should have been worse than that, for sure, but at least I limited the damage when I could."

He's made six starts against the Angels in his career and is 2-2 with a 6.14 ERA.

-Field Level Media/Reuters