Ureña the picture of composure vs. Yankees: 'That's the sign of an ace'

ANAHEIM -- After scuffling in his past two starts, allowing a combined six runs over 8 2/3 innings, right-hander Walbert Ureña got back on track with a stellar showing against the Yankees on Monday.

Ureña tied a career high with eight strikeouts over seven frames while allowing one run on five hits and no walks in a 10-1 win in the series opener at Angel Stadium. It snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Angels, as Ureña improved to 9-9 with a 2.85 ERA in 25 outings (23 starts) this year.

The 22-year-old rookie has struck out 120 and walked 64 in 123 1/3 innings this year and could receive some down-ballot votes for this year’s AL Rookie of the Year Award. His ERA ranks as the fifth best in the AL with a minimum of 120 innings and is second among rookies behind only Parker Messick’s 2.46 ERA.

"There’s really no panic when you watch him,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “When you face the Yankees, the Phillies, the Red Sox, there's always a little bit of a sense of anxiety. When you watched Walbert from pitch one, it was zero anxiety. I think it was 11-for-11 on first-pitch strikes or something crazy like that. That's the sign of an ace, and I thought he pitched great tonight.”

Ureña had uncharacteristically struggled in his past two outings but had much better command against the Yankees. His stuff was also electric, as his sinker’s velocity reached as high as 101 mph. His changeup, which averaged 91.8 mph, also kept the opposing hitters off-balance and helped generate eight of his 16 swings and misses. But his sweeper was also sharp and produced three whiffs and three strikeouts.

“I've been working a lot on my stuff,” Ureña said. “And especially after these couple of last starts that haven’t been really as good. But I've been working on my glove side, and I made really good pitches today. I stayed in-line every time, and everything worked really good.”

Ureña has been a revelation for the Angels this season and has helped solidify a rotation that has been surprisingly strong recently. Angels starters combined to post a 2.51 ERA in August that ranked as the best in the Majors and the best by the organization in any month since April 1982 (2.24 ERA in 22 starts).

Ureña got into trouble early, allowing two hits in the first inning while catcher Tyler Heineman was charged with a passed ball that put two runners in scoring position. But Ureña struck out Trent Grisham to get out of the jam, and then things started to really get rolling for him the rest of the way.

He retired 11 in a row, including four via strikeouts, before surrendering a solo blast to Spencer Jones on a 1-2 sinker with one out in the fifth. But he didn’t let it affect him, as he retired the next five in a row before giving up a leadoff single to Amed Rosario in the seventh.

But he got Trent Grisham to ground in a 1-6-3 double play before Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Ureña struck out Jones to end his outing after 95 pitches.

"They're a really good team, they've been playing really good, but I have my stuff, too,” Ureña said. “That’s what I always say. I'm just trying to get up there on the mound and make pitches and trying to always win.”

Ureña also had the benefit of receiving rare run support from the offense, which has had a tough time scoring. They scored four runs against rookie right-hander Elmer Rodríguez in 3 2/3 innings before tacking on six more against New York's bullpen, with the Yankees committing several defensive miscues.

They matched their run total from their last four games combined and scored 10 runs for the first time since scoring 18 against the Astros on Aug. 20.

“It feels great,” said Vaughn Grissom, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. “Any time you can string together a bunch of good at-bats, something good happens, especially against a team like that where you have to lock in for a full nine innings and they're never out of it. So it was good to lock that one in. Every couple of days, we get Walby out there and he always gives us a chance to win, so it’s nice to put one away while he’s out there.”