Zack Littell gave up just one run despite giving up six hits and three walks while pitching into the fifth inning for Tampa Bay, which won four of five after losing the first game of the trip at Colorado last week.
“One through nine, that was probably collectively the best at-bats I’ve ever gone through a lineup,” Littell said. “They took some really, really good pitches. They fouled off some really, really good pitches. A hundred percent made me work.”
Jo Adell homered and Zach Neto had an RBI single for the Angels, who have lost three of four. They have also lost three of their first four series this season after closing out this 2-4 homestand.
Mike Trout doubled, singled and walked after homering in each of his previous three games, but he finished the game in the on-deck circle when Mickey Moniak struck out with a runner on base. Moniak and Angels manager Ron Washington were visibly furious about two called strikes earlier in the at-bat, with Washington stepping onto the field to voice his displeasure.
“I don’t know if it was a consistent issue throughout the day,” Washington said. “When you got two strikes, you got to try to battle. But I do think in that ninth inning, he must have had a flight that he was missing, because that’s exactly the way he called the game. He called that game like he had somewhere to go. Didn’t take into account that we’re fighting to try to win a game. I thought he had somewhere to go, ’cause that was ridiculous.”
José Soriano (0-2) yielded four runs and six hits over four innings in his first major league start for the Angels.
The 25-year-old Soriano rebounded from two Tommy John surgeries in 16 months early in his career to make the Angels’ roster last season as a setup reliever. He got an opportunity in the rotation when Chase Silseth felt elbow pain after his start last weekend — but Tampa Bay scored three runs on Soriano’s first 10 pitches.
After the Rays loaded the bases with three hard-hit singles, two runners scored when catcher Matt Thaiss didn’t see Soriano’s wild pitch had rolled all the way to the backstop, and a third came home on Isaac Paredes’ sacrifice fly.
“I had a little bit of trouble at the beginning, but I didn’t let that affect me, and I didn’t let them score any more,” Soriano said through an interpreter. “I started as a reliever here, so it feels great to be in the rotation, throwing some innings and helping us to win.”
Caballero then hit his first homer of the season leading off the second.
Thaiss doubled and scored on Neto’s single in the fourth. Adell homered to the opposite field off reliever Kevin Kelly (1-0) in the sixth.
Adell singled in the eighth and stole second standing up, but he inexplicably overran the bag and got tagged out to end the Angels’ threat.
Pete Fairbanks pitched the ninth for his second save.
Silseth has no ligament damage, an exam revealed. The Angels are cautiously confident the No. 5 starter does not have a major injury.
“My heartbeat was racing, but seeing it was clean, it’s good,” Silseth said. “Seeing the results and stuff, hopefully be back in three weeks, a month hopefully. You never know.”
Up next
Angels: Reid Detmers (2-0, 1.64 ERA) takes the mound in Boston on Friday when the Halos open a 10-game trip that includes four games at Tampa Bay.