OC Register: Jose Soriano, Ben Joyce lead Angels pitchers in victory over Mariners

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Two of the pitchers the Angels hope will eventually get them out of this mess showed their stuff on Saturday night.

José Soriano didn’t have his best stuff, and then Ben Joyce clearly did, and they combined for the first seven innings of the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Even better for the Angels, they did it on a night that 43,273 were at Angel Stadium, allowing them to see the team’s future while also getting beach towels and watching fireworks.

Soriano, a 25-year-old right-hander in his first season as a starter, has at times been electric this season, although he’s struggled to regain that form ever since missing time with an abdominal infection last month.

He was still shaky in this start, his third since returning, but he got through six innings, allowing just one run.

Soriano gave up five hits and he walked four, including allowing the first three hitters of the game to reach. Mariners leadoff man J.P. Crawford worked Soriano for an 11-pitch walk to start the game, and three pitches later Soriano allowed more hits and a run.

Soriano escaped that inning with a double play, and after that he continued to weaving his way in and out of trouble.

In the third, he struck out Luke Raley to leave the bases loaded. In the fifth, he got Raley on a grounder, again stranding the bases loaded.

Soriano hit Ty France to start the sixth — his second hit batter of the game — but then he got a double play and a grounder to end the inning with three pitches.

Joyce, a 23-year-old right-hander who has pitched in just 26 big league games, took the mound in the seventh, a night after he threw a 104.5 mph fastball that was the hardest pitch in the majors this season.

Mariners No. 9 hitter Victor Robles greeted Joyce by hitting a 102.6-mph fastball into the gap in right-center, for a leadoff double.

With the tying run in scoring position, Joyce proceeded to strike out Crawford, Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, the top three hitters in the Seattle order.

He got Crawford on a sinker, Raleigh on a changeup and Rodriguez on a slider. The sinker is the new pitch that has helped Joyce pitch 14-1/3 consecutive scoreless innings. The changeup was another wrinkle to his repertoire. He’s thrown only six of them this season.

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After the Angels young starters got through the seventh, veterans Luis Garcia and Carlos Estévez — both of whom could be traded by the end of the month — handled the eighth and ninth, respectively. Estévez ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings while converting his 10th straight save opportunity.

They had no margin for error because Seattle’s George Kirby was also sharp.

Both the Angels runs came on a Jo Adell hit in the second inning. Mickey Moniak came home from third, and then Zach Neto also scored when the throw from right field bounced into foul territory

More to come on this story.

View the full article

[Angel Oracle]

Alert Ripley’s stat:

Past 53 2/3 innings combined for Estévez, Joyce, Strickland, and Crouse:

ONE earned run!

0.17 ERA and 0.61 WHIP

It could well be true.   When one reliever pitches well, then another, it’s a domino effect 

Edited July 14 by Angel Oracle

[arch stanton]

42 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Alert Ripley’s stat:

Past 53 2/3 innings combined for Estévez, Joyce, Strickland, and Crouse:

ONE earned run!

0.17 ERA and 0.61 WHIP

It could well be true.   When one reliever pitches well, then another, it’s a domino effect 

Or, when you have 4 quality relievers no one gets overexposed or overused. No need for a bad lefty to be in the mix just for the sake of leftiness