silences

SACRAMENTO — Walbert Ureña and three relievers combined on a five-hitter and the Angels beat the Athletics 7-0 on Saturday night.

Denzer Guzman hit his second home run of the season, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel each drove in two runs and the Angels (31-47) improved to 2-4 on their trip.

Samy Matera Jr. retired four batters, Ryan Zeferjahn got five outs and Kirby Yates worked the ninth to complete the Angels’ seventh shutout of the season.

Jo Adell and Donovan Walton each had three hits as the Angels bounced back after blowing a late seven-run lead in the series opener Friday.

Ureña (5-5) yielded four hits in five scoreless innings with six strikeouts and no walks. The 22-year-old rookie has gone five innings and given up three earned runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts, the longest stretch by an Angels rookie pitcher since Ron Romanick accomplished the feat in 10 games in 1984.

The Angels scored twice in the first inning off A’s starter J.T. Ginn to take an early lead.

After failing to score with the bases loaded in the third, the Angels pulled away with four runs in the sixth. Neto hit a two-run double down the left-field line and Schanuel doubled in two runs with a line drive down the right field line

Guzman hit a solo home run off Geoff Hartlieb in the seventh.

Ginn (5-4), who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his previous start against the Angels on May 18, gave up four runs and seven hits in 5⅓ innings. Ginn had five strikeouts and three walks.

It took a first home defeat to Leeds since 1981 for the real moans to start.

The calmness previously viewed as an asset became a negative. Inaction was seen as conservative. All week the question has been asked, is Carrick up to the job?

Well, there was nothing aesthetically pleasing about this latest triumph.

But given only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of all the post-Sir Alex Ferguson bosses had experienced the feeling of winning at Stamford Bridge, style was a secondary element.

Chelsea may have hit the woodwork three times. They may have carried the more consistent threat. But Carrick’s team was the one that delivered.

“It was a game for a result,” he said. “And we managed to find it.”

There was more to it though. There was overcoming the adversity of knowing that on top of the three central defenders he knew would be missing (Matthijs de Ligt through injury and Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire due to suspension), Carrick then lost a fourth, Leny Yoro, to a training ground injury.

That came so late in the week his chosen pairing, Noussair Mazraoui and Ayden Heaven, could only prepare with walk-throughs.

“I love when you see players thrive in those moments,” said Carrick.

Heaven, 19, had not started a game under Carrick, having first been given his chance by Ruben Amorim and then his immediate replacement Darren Fletcher.

“Ayden has not played a lot of football recently, and to come into that environment is not something that you can take for granted,” said Carrick.

“We say the same things to young players all the time. Sometimes they look at you as if to say, ‘yeah, good one’ but in terms of training every day and looking after yourself and being ready ‘because you never know when that chance comes’, he probably wouldn’t have thought it would come at that moment.

“But he was there, he was prepared, and he took it in his stride magnificently well.”