Colson Montgomery homered in the second off Angels starter José Soriano (5-1), ending his shutout streak at 25 2/3 innings. The right-hander gave up three runs and six hits over five innings, raising his major league-leading ERA from 0.24 to 0.84.
Davis Martin (4-1) outpitched Soriano, giving up one run and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Martin struck out seven and walked one.
Sean Newcomb fanned three in 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Seranthony Domínguez worked a hitless ninth for his seventh save.
Josh Lowe homered for the Angels, and Jo Adell had an RBI single.
Mike Trout homered, Nolan Schanuel homered and hit a three-run double and Jose Soriano worked five shutout innings as the Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday to avoid a series sweep.
Trout’s eighth homer of the season was a 428-foot solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. That hit tied the 34-year-old Trout with the late Garret Anderson for the Angels’ franchise record of 796 extra-base hits. Anderson died last week of an acute necrotizing pancreatitis at the age of 53.
Soriano, who is 5-0, gave up three hits and struck out five in five innings before leaving with a 3-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to an MLB-leading 0.24. The 27-year-old right-hander is the first MLB pitcher since 1900 to allow no more than one run in the first six starts of a season, and he has the lowest ERA (with a minimum of 30 innings pitched) through a pitcher’s first six starts of a season since 1913, when earned runs became official in both leagues.
Despite his impressive outing, Soriano did not figure in the decision after the Blue Jays rallied in the seventh. Ernie Clement’s RBI single with two out cut the deficit to 3-1. Toronto then capitalized on a walk, an error and an RBI double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., tying the game at 3.
The Angels countered in the bottom half. Schanuel, who hit a solo homer in the fourth, hit a three-run double to left that gave the Angels a 6-3 lead. They added another run on Hunter Renfroe’s RBI single.
Brent Suter (1-1) struck out two and worked a scoreless seventh for the win. Tommy Nance (0-2) allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings and took the loss.
In just five starts, José Soriano’s season with the Angels has gone from good to great — to historic.
Soriano pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning of the Angels’ 8-0 victory over the Padres on Friday night, ending San Diego’s eight-game winning streak with yet another dominant outing by the Angels’ right-handed Dominican ace.
Soriano (5-0) has an ERA of 0.28 after allowing just one run in his first 32 2/3 innings this season. He leads the majors with 39 strikeouts while allowing only 11 hits, and he’s tied with Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby for the lead with five wins.
Except for occasional control problems, Soriano has been overwhelming every lineup he faces — and Drake Baldwin’s first-inning homer for Atlanta on April 6 is still the only run he has allowed all season. His 17-inning scoreless streak is the second-longest in the majors this season, and opponents are batting .104 against his 0.73 WHIP — both the best in baseball.
Angels ace José Soriano delivers to the plate during the fifth inning of a win over the San Diego Padres at Angel Stadium on Friday.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)
“It’s like a hot knife through butter,” Angels slugger Jo Adell said. “It’s pretty crazy. It’s really special, and he’s a special talent. He’s always had the stuff to compete at this level, and he’s doing what an ace does. Whatever he’s done, just keep doing it.”
And after five straight dominant starts, Soriano has reached rare company.
The most recent pitcher to allow one earned run or fewer in each of his first five starts in a season with at least 15 total innings pitched was the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, when he won the NL Cy Young award in his groundbreaking rookie season. Walter Johnson also did it in 1913 — and nobody else.
Soriano is also the only pitcher in major league history to go at least five innings while yielding one or fewer earned runs and three or fewer hits in each of his first five starts to a season.
“I just feel confident to keep pitching like that,” Soriano said. “I believe in my catcher, and we’re on the same page. I think that’s a big part of the results we’re having.”
While Soriano dazzled his previous two opponents with back-to-back, 10-strikeout outings over 15 combined innings to win the AL Player of the Week award, he actually didn’t overwhelm the Padres’ veteran lineup.
San Diego drew four walks and forced Soriano to throw 99 pitches. The Padres loaded the bases in the third before Soriano got Jackson Merrill to ground out, but San Diego eventually chased him with a single and a walk with two outs in the sixth.
“The thing that impressed was that to us, he had to grind a little bit tonight,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “I think that’s the maturity showing up, where he’s learning how to pitch — and I say this lightly — without his best stuff. He learned how to navigate a great lineup over there without his best stuff … and it was pretty incredible. You can’t say enough.”
Soriano has a 99-mph fastball and a sinker that ranks among the best in baseball, but he’s also mixing in a curve that has flummoxed his opponents. The combination has been too much for any opponent through his first five starts.
“Knowing him from the past, you always thought of the high-90s sinker, and then he comes in breaking out the curveball,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “That pitch was very impressive from the dugout. Gave our guys trouble at the beginning. It’s really hard to lay off that pitch, and it complements his sinker. He did a great job tonight mixing his pitches. … He’s just a really good pitcher.”
CINCINNATI — José Soriano struck out 10 over seven shutout innings to become the major leagues’ first four-game winner, and the Angels beat the Reds 9-6 Sunday for their first series victory at Cincinnati since 2007.
Soriano (4-0) gave up two hits and three walks, throwing 106 pitches and lowering his big league-best ERA to 0.33. He became the first Angels pitcher to win his first four games since Jered Weaver won six straight in 2011.
The Angels opened a 9-0 lead in the eighth inning and took two of three for its first series win at the Reds since winning two of three from June 12-14 2007.
Nolan Schanuel had three RBIs, putting the Angels ahead with a two-run single in the three-run first that included Logan O’Hoppe’s single.
Mike Trout, who scored three runs, had an RBI double in the second and scored on Jorge Soler’s sacrifice fly. Oswald Peraza homered on the first pitch of the fourth.
Andrew Abbott (0-2) gave up seven runs, matching his career high, and seven earned runs for the first time. He gave up eight hits and a pair of walks in three innings.
Elly De La Cruz hit a three-run homer, his fifth home run this season.
Neto launched a leadoff shot on Chris Sale’s first pitch, and Soriano (3-0) struck out 10 as the Angels won their third consecutive game. The right-hander gave up one run and three hits without issuing a walk, throwing 69 of his 96 pitches for strikes.
Soriano gave up a solo homer to Drake Baldwin and a single to Matt Olson in the first, then retired 19 straight batters before Mike Yastrzemski led off the eighth with a single.
Mauricio Dubón homered off Angels reliever Chase Silseth in the ninth. Atlanta put two on with two outs before Jordan Romano replaced Silseth and got Yastrzemski to fly out for his fourth save.
The Angels played without star center fielder Mike Trout, who exited Sunday’s game against Seattle after getting hit on the left hand by a 94-mph fastball in the eighth. Trout’s hand swelled so quickly he struggled to remove his batting glove, but X-rays were negative and he is listed as day to day.
Sale (2-1) entered 8-0 with a 1.24 ERA in 11 career games against the Angels, but Neto slammed the left-hander’s first pitch, a 95-mph fastball, for a homer to left field.
Angels star Zach Neto celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Braves on Monday.
(Joe Scarnici / Getty Images)
Sale retired his next nine batters but fell apart during a three-run fourth in which the Angels drew two walks, were twice hit by pitches, had two runners forced out at the plate and hit one ball out of the infield.
Logan O’Hoppe walked and Yoán Moncada was hit by a pitch, both with the bases loaded, to account for two runs. Bryce Teodosio drove in a run with an infield single for a 4-1 lead.
Jorge Soler opened the fifth with a single, and Adell drove a first-pitch fastball 411 feet to left for a two-run homer — his first of the season — and a 6-1 advantage.
Up next: Braves RHP Reynaldo López (1-0, 1.64 ERA) opposes Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (0-1, 6.52) on Tuesday night.
