CLEVELAND -- There were two separate occasions in the Angels’ game against the Guardians on Monday when manager Kurt Suzuki had to go to his bullpen with the bases loaded.
On the first occasion, José Fermin was called upon in the second inning after opener Brent Suter loaded the bases and promptly gave up a two-run single to Brayan Rocchio.
An inning later, it was Kirby Yates’ turn to try to clean up a mess. The only problem was that it didn’t go as anyone expected, as he allowed all three inherited runners to score, along with two other runners that he put on base.
That big inning ended up being the Angels’ downfall, as they limped to a 7-2 loss in a game where their pitching staff allowed 10 walks.
“It’s going to be hard to win a game when you allow that many walks,” Suzuki said.
That continued early-season bullpen messiness gave way to Alek Manoah, who closed out the game with five scoreless innings.
While he worked as a one-inning reliever in his team debut on Friday, he made the All-Star team as a starter in 2022 with the Blue Jays, and made a solid case to earn the final spot in the Angels’ rotation on Monday after losing the battle in Spring Training.
“I didn’t know how many innings I was going to throw,” Manoah said. “I just grabbed the ball and made pitches. I was trying to be too perfect early on, but then I remembered my job was to keep us in the game and save the bullpen, so I just started attacking.”
Monday’s outing was his first audition for that aforementioned spot, and he turned in a performance that was (mostly) positive.
Yes, he didn’t allow a run, but he needed 91 pitches to do it and gave up five walks, which is tied for the third-most he’s allowed in a game in his career.
“He grinded and gave us everything that we needed," Suzuki said.
After allowing just one baserunner in the fourth inning, the Guardians had runners on second and third against him in the fifth inning with just one out after a Rhys Hoskins walk and Kyle Manzardo double.
But Manoah was able to lock in and get out of the inning unscathed after he got David Fry to pop out in the infield and Daniel Schneemann to ground out.
“Guys that are successful execute pitches when they have to, and he did a good job of that tonight,” Suzuki said.
While there were parts of Manoah’s outing that were reminiscent of him at his peak, his pitch mix looked a bit different. After only throwing his changeup 11% of the time in ‘22, he threw the pitch 43 times (47%) on Monday.
“They have a bunch of lefties, and it really comes down to whatever the catcher is calling,” Manoah said. “I feel like I was able to keep them off balance.”
His average fastball velocity was also down four miles per hour, but he said postgame that he felt fine and chalked his velocity dip up to the chilly 50-degree weather.
“I’m not worried; I know it’s going to come,” he said.
While this is the first time Suzuki’s been at the helm for the Angels at Progressive Field, his team’s struggles at the ballpark are nothing new. In fact, Monday’s loss means the Angels have gone 4-27 in Cleveland since the start of 2015. They haven’t won a series at the park since August 2013.
They’re facing an uphill battle to get that done this season thanks to Monday’s rough performance. Both of their runs came long after the Guardians had taken the lead, as Jo Adell had an RBI single in the eighth inning before Vaughn Grissom added an RBI hit of his own in the next inning.
While the Angels have gotten a breakout season from José Soriano at the top of their rotation, the rest of the unit had been cloudy all season well before Yusei Kikuchi was placed on the injured list at the beginning of the month.
Manoah’s outing wasn’t perfect, but it may be just enough for the Angels right now.
“My job was to get in there, eat innings and save the bullpen, and I feel like I was able to do that,” Manoah said.