The Los Angeles Angels are hoping for a bounce-back effort from staff ace Jose Soriano as they try to earn a split of their four-game series with the Athletics on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif.
Soriano (6-3, 2.41 ERA) was the American League Pitcher of the Month for March/April after allowing only one earned run in 37 2/3 innings over his first six starts (0.24 ERA) while striking out 43 batters. But talk about a possible Cy Young Award has quieted down a little after he has lost three of his past four starts, allowing 15 earned runs in 22 innings.
Soriano comes in off his worst start of the season, a 15-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday. He allowed a season-high six runs in 5 1/3 innings despite yielding just one hit, a single to Freddie Freeman.
Soriano walked a career-high six batters, including four in a five-run sixth inning that also saw him hit a batter. He left after throwing 92 pitches, just 48 that were strikes.
“Everything was good up until that moment, but then I struggled with command,” Soriano said. “A lot of walks. It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it. Just try and be ready for the next time.”
Soriano is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in eight appearances (six starts) in his career against the A’s. He was pounded for eight earned runs on five hits and five walks over 2 1/3 innings in his most recent start against the Athletics that came last Sept. 5 in Anaheim.
Los Angeles has lost eight of its past nine games and is just 6-23 in last 29 contests.
For the A’s, right-hander Luis Severino (2-5, 4.45) will get the nod on Thursday. He is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels.
Soriano will try to snap a personal three-start losing streak for the Athletics.
As with Soriano, May has not been a kind month for Severino, who is 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA in three starts. He comes in off a 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday that saw him give up five runs on a season-high 10 hits — including a pair of home runs to Casey Schmitt — over six innings while striking out seven.
“Obviously, Schmitt was an issue,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “But I thought Sevy’s outing was a couple pitches away from being really good.”
The good news for the Athletics is the game is on the road, where Severino has excelled in an A’s uniform. Severino is 6-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 14 career road starts with the Athletics compared to 3-11 with a 5.91 ERA in 19 career starts at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif.
The A’s will be going for their third straight victory after rallying for a 6-5 win in 10 innings on Wednesday. Jeff McNeil led off the ninth with a home run off Kirby Yates to tie it, 5-5, and Tyler Soderstrom recorded his third RBI of the game after driving in Nick Kurtz with the winning run in the 10th.
Kurtz extended his on-base streak to 43 games with a single and two walks. He also scored two runs.
–Field Level Media
