Jose Soriano vs. Dylan Cease promised to be a good pitching matchup and it lived up to its billing. Cease went 6 and 2/3rds inning giving up 1 run and leaving a runner on first base. Soriano held the Padres scoreless until the Angels defense committed 2 errors in the 5th inning and allowed 2 runs to score.
That run given up by Cease came on the second pitch of the game via a Zach Neto home run.
That was all the scoring until the fateful fifth inning. Soriano was giving up contact but the defense really let him down. A Jo Adell error that started the rally was followed by an errant throw by Logan O’Hoppe that cashed in a run.
Ultimately the Padres took a 2-1 lead and held it that way until the top of the 7th. With Cease finally out of the game, the Angels bats had a chance. On the first pitch by reliever Jeremiah Estrada he gave up this game tying shot to Jo Adell.
On the very next pitch, Angels newcomer Matthew Lugo hit an absolute laser to put the Angels up 4-2. That’s two pinch hit homers and a triple in his first week. Incredible.
Ron Washington rode the hot hand and kept Jose Soriano on the bump. Washington went to the mound with one on and one out in the bottom of the 7th but Jose stayed in the game. A popup and a walk followed, setting up 2 on and 2 out with Soriano at 104 pitches. Three knuckle curves later the inning was over.
Jose Soriano was a panther tonight.
So panther he deserves two links.
Ryan Zeferjahn picked a bad night to have a rough outing. Granted the 8th inning is never a good time to have a bad outing, but Jose Soriano’s performance deserved to end in a win.
Two walks b Zeferjahn were sandwiched around a punchout. Ryan got a huge strikeout of the scorching hot Jackson Merrill before Gavin Sheets lofted a soft liner that Taylor Ward slightly misplayed and allowed to fall in for an RBI hit.
A few pitches later, a wild pitch allowed the second walk to score and tie it at 4-4. Another walk from Zeferjahn and he was finally pulled with 2 outs and 2 on.
Kenley Jansen followed a leadoff walk by a two run bomb to Fernando Tatis Jr and the Angels lost 6-4.
Sucks for Soriano, who deserved better.
