ANAHEIM — José Soriano gave plenty of reason for optimism about his potential as a major league starter in his previous outing, but he provided reason for caution in this one.
Soriano was clearly out of sorts from the moment he took the mound in the Angels’ 16-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.
He walked three and hit two on his way to allowing four runs, recording just five outs.
“It’s one of those days you don’t feel yourself,” Soriano said through an interpreter. “You try to throw pitches in the zone and it’s not working.”
The early deficit left the Angels to turn to a couple of their struggling relievers, just to get through some innings, and the deficit only grew. José Suarez gave up three runs in 1⅓ innings and then José Cisnero allowed three runs, while getting only two outs. Carlos Fulmer then got them 10 outs, but he eventually gave up four runs.
Outfielder Aaron Hicks pitched the ninth inning, allowing two more runs.
It added up to the Angels’ third straight loss, and their eighth in the last nine games. The Angels (10-17) have not finished an inning with a lead in any of those eight losses.
Although the starters have mostly kept them in games, they haven’t been able to outmatch the slow starting offense. In this game the offense couldn’t keep up with the poor pitching.
Soriano, 25, took the mound with the promise of a 101 mph fastball and on the heels of a start in which he didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning and then gave up three unearned runs.
He brought a 3.43 ERA to the mound on Saturday.
His control was missing from the outset. Soriano walked Alex Kirilloff, the first hitter of the game, on six pitches. He then fell behind Edouard Julien, 3-and-0, before allowing a single. Soriano then hit Ryan Jeffers with a pitch, loading the bases.
Although Soriano managed to escape with just one run scoring, he came out in the second and continued struggling. He hit a batter, walked a batter and gave up two hits.
“Just couldn’t command the fastball,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He fell behind. He was able to land some breaking stuff, but that’s the only thing he threw up there that he was able to land with any consistency. That’s the really the first time … that I saw him that much out of whack.”
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Things got even uglier after he left, because Suarez continued his nightmarish start to the season.
Suarez allowed the first five batters he faced to get hits. He managed an out because the Angels threw out a runner at third to end the second inning.
Including an awful outing on Wednesday, Suarez allowed 11 out of 12 hitters to reach base.
Suarez now has a 10.13 ERA in 16 innings over nine games. He is out of options, so the Angels can’t send him to Triple-A. They believe that he’d be claimed if they placed him on waivers because he’s 26, left-handed and showed something when posting a 3.86 ERA over 207⅓ major league innings in 2021 and 2022.
“All we can do is keep running him out there,” said Washington, explaining that the Angels are not ready to give up on him.
