On most nights it is easy to see why Angels fans can dream of a better future on the horizon. Young talent in key positions is developing and fans are justifiably thinking “if he can be like this consistently….”
Jose Soriano provided that reason to dream tonight. He was brilliant, going 7 innings allowing a sole earned run. Texas did score an unearned run off him as well.
His stuff was nasty enough to net 7 strikeouts. But his control was intact as well as evidenced by the 2 walks allowed. Texas hitters looked to be off balance all night and swung over sinker after sinker.
Early on, the game looked a lot like this:
Luis Rengifo provided the lone meaningful offensive highlight for the Angels tonight, an RBI single that tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the 4th. As mentioned above, Texas pushed the lead to 2-1 after a Jo Adell error led to a run in the top of the 7th.
Then the Angels bullpen went to work. Former first rounders Reid Detmers and Sam Bachman combined to give up 4 runs in 2/3rds of an inning and leave the bases loaded for the next guy. The next guy was Carson Fulmer and got a K to put out the fire. End result: 6-1 Texas in the 8th.
That’s when Nolan Schanuel gave us another reason to dream a bit, cracking a 2 run shot to cut the lead to 6-3.
That ended up being the final score, 6-3.
Losses aren’t fun. But they sting a little less when O’Hoppe walks twice against Eovaldi, Schanuel goes yard, and Soriano pitches like a future star.
