The Los Angeles Angels’ roller coaster season is headed back up the hill.
Mike Trout returned from a bruised left knee, and Jose Soriano pitched six scoreless innings Friday, sending Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory over the host Cleveland Guardians in the opener of their three-game series.
Before beating the Guardians, the Angels had lost five in a row immediately after their season-high, eight-game winning streak.
Los Angeles will send Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.23 ERA) to the mound Saturday afternoon against fellow right-hander Slade Cecconi (1-1, 3.27).
“This season is so long and you travel to so many places, anything that happens to bring it up is something you latch onto,” Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “That’s why getting Mike back is huge.
“It’s been really good having him around the last few weeks, but obviously, we want him in the lineup. We know he can help.”
Trout was activated shortly after Los Angeles arrived in Cleveland, ending a 26-game stay on the injured list that began after he stepped awkwardly on first base April 30 at the Seattle Mariners.
The three-time American League MVP went 1-for-5 against the Guardians, striking out twice and singling versus starter Luis Ortiz. He batted fifth and served as the designated hitter, which manager Ron Washington said is the plan for the rest of the series.
“We’re going to go with how Mike feels each day, but for right now, just to be safe, we’ll DH him as long as he wants to,” Washington said. “It affects some other things, but the most important thing is finding Mike a spot in the lineup.”
The Angels’ rotation lined up perfectly with Soriano now 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA in two career games in Cleveland and Hendricks 2-0 with an 0.75 ERA in two appearances against the Guardians.
Los Angeles also could have reliever Robert Stephenson back later this weekend. The right-hander rushed off the mound after three pitches to Cleveland’s Daniel Schneemann on Friday in his second post-Tommy John surgery appearance, but a post-game examination showed no damage to his elbow.
“The last couple of pitches in the bullpen, it got me and was pretty uncomfortable,” Stephenson said. “But everything checked out and looked pretty normal. We’ll see how I feel when we get back here tomorrow.”
For Cleveland, Cecconi’s lone career start against the Angels occurred last season, when he was rocked for seven runs on 10 hits in three innings and took the loss.
Guardians All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez, who has a 26-game on-base streak, saw his career-long hitting streak end Friday at 21 games. Cleveland is 1-3 on its six-game homestand against both Los Angeles teams.
Even worse for the Guardians, rookie reliever Andrew Walters appeared to suffer a right-arm injury in the ninth inning Friday after allowing a homer to Jorge Soler.
Walters immediately grabbed his upper arm and walked off the field. Team officials said the affected area is near his armpit and will require an MRI on Saturday.
“Everybody saw it, obviously not good,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “I just feel for Andrew. You could just see the pain he was in. He’s hurting both emotionally and physically, so you never want to see that.”
–Field Level Media
