ANAHEIM -- It was a good night for Jose. But just not for the two Josés.
A day after he robbed a grand slam to save Mitch Farris (and the buffet beyond the left-field fence), Jose Siri served up a grand slam of his own. But it was marred by rough showings on the mound from José Soriano and José Fermin in a frustrating 9-8 loss to the Rockies in the series opener on Monday.
The Angels rode a five-run third inning, keyed by Siri’s second career grand slam, but Fermin gave up five runs in the eighth and couldn’t protect a three-run lead.
Jorge Soler hit a two-run triple to tie the game with one out in the eighth, but Vaughn Grissom hit into a double play to the scoring threat before Kirby Yates gave up a run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Siri grounded into a double play to end it on a close play that stood after a review, a call he disagreed with.
“I think I was safe, and it's clear on the video, and I don't know why they said I was out,” Siri said. “I’m frustrated, because I did my job to hustle to first base to be safe and then have a chance to steal a base with a left-handed hitter on deck. But that’s baseball.”
Fermin, who entered with a 2.51 ERA in 14 1/3 innings, surrendered five runs before he even recorded an out, including a go-ahead three-run blast to Hunter Goodman. He couldn't get out of the inning, allowing four hits and two walks while throwing 39 pitches with the bullpen thin after six straight games on the road.
“He's been throwing the ball good,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Tonight, he left some sliders up. Got to two strikes, couldn't put them away. Rough night, but what are you going to do?”
It came after the Angels put together four singles in the third against lefty Kyle Freeland, with Jo Adell getting them on the board with a two-out RBI single. Oswald Peraza, starting in place of shortstop Zach Neto (scratched from the lineup with whiplash stemming from his collision at home on Saturday), kept the inning alive with an infield single to load the bases.
It opened the door for Siri to come up huge with his go-ahead blast on an 0-1 cutter. Siri watched it fly down the left-field line and flipped his bat in celebration as it went over the fence for his first grand slam since May 12, 2024, while with the Rays.
“That was fun,” Siri said. “But I’d be a lot more happy if we won.”
Siri, 30, has given the Angels a much-needed boost since having his contract selected from Triple-A Salt Lake on May 16. Siri, who signed a Minor League deal with the club in the offseason, was faring well in the Minors, and the Angels optioned Bryce Teodosio with the hope that Siri could deliver a jolt offensively.
He's done just that, as he's slashed .304/.333/.652 with two homers, two doubles and six RBIs in 15 games.
“He's been playing well since he's been here,” Suzuki said. “He robbed the home run yesterday, hit a grand slam today. Had some good at-bats, even when he lined out to first.”
SIri’s big night at the plate was offset by a rare rough outing from Soriano, who came in with a 2.65 ERA in 12 starts but had trouble locating hit pitches. He walked a career-high seven batters and hit two, while just 58 of his 108 pitches went for strikes.
He couldn’t get through five innings, getting lifted with two outs in the fourth, but limited the damage to give up three runs (two earned) on three hits with seven strikeouts. It was the most walks by an Angels pitcher since right-hander Garrett Richards issued seven free passes on Sept. 2, 2013.
Soriano couldn’t pinpoint why he couldn’t command his pitches, but he said he’ll go over his outing with the coaching staff to see what was wrong. He said it wasn’t just one specific pitch he had trouble with.
“Just a little disappointed with the command, but I feel good,” Soriano said. “I’m gonna try to figure it out and see if it’s mechanics or something like that. I'm just trying to work on that.”