Unheralded Jose Soriano was the majors’ most dominant starter through his first six outings. The Los Angeles Angels right-hander has been on a roller coaster ride since that point.
Soriano will try record his second straight quality start on Wednesday when he faces the Tigers in Detroit.
Soriano posted a 5-0 record with one no-decision while allowing just one run in 37 2/3 innings through his first six appearances.
In his last April start, he gave up three runs in five innings to the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox then pushed across five runs in four innings during his first May start.
Soriano (6-3, 2.44 ERA) bounced back with a 7 2/3-inning gem against Toronto in which he limited the Blue Jays to one run. That was followed by a bout with wildness — the Los Angeles Dodgers had just one hit off him in 5 1/3 innings but scored six runs as Soriano issued six free passes.
Soriano was closer to his earlier form on Thursday, holding the Athletics to two runs in 6 2/3 innings. However, the Athletics wound up winning in extra innings. 3-2.
“I thought Soriano was really good,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He pitched his butt off, moved the ball around, had a really good breaking ball (Thursday), some good split-fingers. So yeah, he pitched good. Should’ve won.”
Soriano generally was pleased with his outing.
“I’ll take the good, the positive things,” Soriano said. “I grinded into the seventh. I couldn’t complete the inning, but I feel good the way I pitched (Thursday). I helped the team the most I can. I can control what I can control, I don’t try to do too much. We didn’t have the results we wanted (Thursday), but I battled. I feel good with that.”
He has not allowed a run in nine career innings against the Tigers, spanning three appearances (one start). He is 0-1 in those games, however.
Detroit right-hander Casey Mize (2-3, 2.47) has pitched nearly as well as Soriano but hasn’t received good run support. Mize has given up two or fewer runs in seven of his eight starts.
Following a stint on the injured list due to an adductor strain, Mize has posted consecutive quality starts but the Tigers have scored just one run in each of those games. He gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings against Cleveland in a 3-1 loss on Thursday.
Both of the runs came in the third inning.
“I was happy to get into the seventh,” he said. “Pretty frustrating to allow two runs with three consecutive hits with two outs. Can do a better job of finishing there. I don’t think my execution was as good as it has been. Didn’t get into counts great but obviously getting into the seventh and only allowing two runs, I’ll take that on most days.”
Mize is 3-0 with a 3.76 ERA in five career starts against the Angels.
The Angels won the series opener, 10-6, on Tuesday for their fourth straight victory. Vaughn Grissom wiped away a 6-5 deficit in the eighth inning with a grand slam.
Kevin McGonigle had three hits, including a two-run triple, for Detroit but the Tigers enter Wednesday’s contest having lost nine of their last 10 games.
–Field Level Media
