The Los Angeles Angels are hoping for a bounce-back effort from staff ace Jose Soriano as they try to earn a split of their four-game series with the Athletics on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif.

Soriano (6-3, 2.41 ERA) was the American League Pitcher of the Month for March/April after allowing only one earned run in 37 2/3 innings over his first six starts (0.24 ERA) while striking out 43 batters. But talk about a possible Cy Young Award has quieted down a little after he has lost three of his past four starts, allowing 15 earned runs in 22 innings.

Soriano comes in off his worst start of the season, a 15-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday. He allowed a season-high six runs in 5 1/3 innings despite yielding just one hit, a single to Freddie Freeman.

Soriano walked a career-high six batters, including four in a five-run sixth inning that also saw him hit a batter. He left after throwing 92 pitches, just 48 that were strikes.

“Everything was good up until that moment, but then I struggled with command,” Soriano said. “A lot of walks. It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it. Just try and be ready for the next time.”

Soriano is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in eight appearances (six starts) in his career against the A’s. He was pounded for eight earned runs on five hits and five walks over 2 1/3 innings in his most recent start against the Athletics that came last Sept. 5 in Anaheim.

Los Angeles has lost eight of its past nine games and is just 6-23 in last 29 contests.

For the A’s, right-hander Luis Severino (2-5, 4.45) will get the nod on Thursday. He is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels.

Soriano will try to snap a personal three-start losing streak for the Athletics.

As with Soriano, May has not been a kind month for Severino, who is 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA in three starts. He comes in off a 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday that saw him give up five runs on a season-high 10 hits — including a pair of home runs to Casey Schmitt — over six innings while striking out seven.

“Obviously, Schmitt was an issue,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “But I thought Sevy’s outing was a couple pitches away from being really good.”

The good news for the Athletics is the game is on the road, where Severino has excelled in an A’s uniform. Severino is 6-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 14 career road starts with the Athletics compared to 3-11 with a 5.91 ERA in 19 career starts at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif.

The A’s will be going for their third straight victory after rallying for a 6-5 win in 10 innings on Wednesday. Jeff McNeil led off the ninth with a home run off Kirby Yates to tie it, 5-5, and Tyler Soderstrom recorded his third RBI of the game after driving in Nick Kurtz with the winning run in the 10th.

Kurtz extended his on-base streak to 43 games with a single and two walks. He also scored two runs.

–Field Level Media

Let’s start with a warning: “Most improved” DOES NOT mean most likely to win the Super Bowl, or make the playoffs, or even finish above .500.

Here it describes four teams who worked the hardest this offseason — through coaching changes, free agency, trades and the draft — to put a better product on the field for their fans.

Two of those franchises, the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, look like legit Lombardi contenders, while the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders are still far from being the best (or even second-best) teams in their respective divisions. All four are demonstrably improved heading into 2026.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams have perhaps the smallest Super Bowl window in the NFL with reigning MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford entering his 18th season at age 38. They also have the shortest ramp to a ring, coming off a four-point setback to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game.

Los Angeles ranked 19th in passing defense last season during the regular season and gave up 346 yards and three touchdowns through the air to Sam Darnold in the playoff loss. They addressed their chief weakness by adding two Chiefs cornerbacks: trading for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and signing his Kansas City partner Jaylen Watson in free agency.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals were 6-11 last season but lost games where they scored 42 points, 38 points and 34 points. They gave up a team-record 492 points for the season. A healthy Joe Burrow can only do so much, so Cincinnati finally invested heavily on the defensive side this offseason.

Cincinnati offset the loss of All-Pro Trey Hendrickson in free agency by acquiring three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence in a trade with the Giants and pairing him with two-time Pro Bowl DT Jonathan Allen. On the edge, the Bengals signed Boye Mafe to a three-year, $60 million deal and drafted Cashius Howell with the 41st pick. Cincy also signed former Chiefs safety Bryan Cook to shore up the back end.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders needed new leadership after the failed Pete Carroll experiment. Las Vegas hit the daily double by hiring head coach and offensive play-caller Klint Kubiak and giving him a Heisman Trophy winner and national champion to mold with No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. The team also brought in veteran Kirk Cousins as a mentor and a bridge until Mendoza is ready to roll.

The Raiders struck some bold deals, too, making Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum the highest-paid center in NFL history and beefing up the D with edge rusher Kwity Paye and linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker and also somehow managing to keep five-time Pro Bowl pass-rusher Maxx Crosby.

New York Giants

The Giants are also under new leadership with John Harbaugh, a Super Bowl-winning coach who took Baltimore to the playoffs 12 times. With quarterback Jaxson Dart entering his second season, it’s worth noting that Lamar Jackson won an MVP award in his second season while playing for Harbaugh.

New York has wide receiver Malik Nabers (fingers crossed) and running back Cam Skattebo returning from injuries and raided the Ravens’ roster for tight end Isaiah Likely, fullback Patrick Ricard and guard Daniel Faalele. The Giants upgraded their defense by signing two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and aced the draft with top-10 picks and foundational players Arvell Reese (fifth overall) at linebacker and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa (10th).

These four certainly look like they improved. Now it’s time to prove it.

The Arizona Diamondbacks will look to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games on Thursday when they host the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a four-game series in Phoenix.

The Diamondbacks won the decisive contest of the three-game series when the clubs met last weekend in Denver. The team’s lone loss of the series occurred on Saturday when Tomoyuki Sugano limited the visitors to two runs in five innings in Colorado’s 4-2 victory.

Arizona then returned home to sweep a three-game set from the San Francisco Giants.

Meanwhile, the Rockies have gone 1-3 since Sugano’s win Saturday, including losing two of three at home to the Texas Rangers in a series that ended on Wednesday with Colorado failing to hold a lead in the ninth inning.

“There’s nothing to address,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said after the 5-4 loss. “They know. They’re in the process of learning how to win. … We had exactly what we wanted there in the ninth inning. It was just unfortunate, just didn’t work out.”

Arizona leadoff man Ketel Marte has been working out just fine of late.

After struggling for much of the season, Marte went 2-for-3 against Sugano and continued to heat up in the San Francisco series. He smacked a walk-off home run in a 5-3 win on Tuesday and then went deep again among three hits on Wednesday.

Marte has boosted his batting average from .209 on Friday to .235.

He credits his manager, Torey Lovullo, for his encouragement.

“Usually at this stage in the season, I have really good numbers,” Marte told reporters during the San Francisco series. “But Torey has always told me, ‘You’re making good contact. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re playing good defense.’

“Torey and I have a great relationship, almost like father and son. Great communication. It’s very special that he’s always trusted in me.”

Marte will aim to stay hot against Colorado right-hander Zach Agnos (0-0, 5.59 ERA), who will make his first career start on Thursday.

Agnos is getting nod after scheduled starter Sugano was pushed back to Friday. Agnos was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on Monday after outfielder Jordan Beck (hamstring) was placed on 10-day injured list.

Agnos has made 43 career appearances with the Rockies, including 13 this season.

He allowed two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 9-1 loss against the Diamondbacks on Friday. He has a 3.38 ERA without a decision in two career relief appearances versus Arizona.

Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1, 2.53) will get the start on Thursday.

Rodriguez took the loss on Saturday despite holding the Rockies to three runs in 5 1/3 innings. The loss came in the wake of two outstanding efforts in which he limited the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets to a total of one run and six hits over 15 1/3 innings.

Rodriguez has gone 3-1 with a 4.95 ERA in seven career starts against the Rockies.

–Field Level Media