ANAHEIM -- With a career 9.96 ERA in 28 innings, including 12.83 ERA in 13 1/3 frames this season, right-hander Ryan Johnson finally displayed what made him such a highly regarded pitching prospect.
The rookie turned in the best outing of his young career, allowing just one hit and one walk with eight strikeouts over six scoreless innings in a 5-1 win over the Orioles on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.
Johnson carried a no-hitter until the sixth inning before he gave up a one-out single to former Angels infielder Jeremiah Jackson on a first-pitch cutter. But he got ex-Angels outfielder Taylor Ward to promptly ground into a double play to end his night, as he faced just one over the minimum.
“I feel great,” Johnson said with a big smile after his third career start. “You can't feel anything but great after that. That's exactly what I wanted to do.”
The 23-year-old was coming off a rough start against the Athletics that saw him give up five runs over five innings on Thursday, but all five of those runs came in the opening frame. So he’s now starting to find his footing, with a streak of 10 straight scoreless innings. He lowered his ERA to 8.84 in 19 1/3 frames, picking up his first win of the season and the second of his career.
“He picked up where he left off the last four innings in Sacramento when he shut them down,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He was kind of the same, he was attacking with the fastball, threw some good cutters, some sweepers, changeups, and I thought he was just executing pitches down in the zone and up when he had to be. So I thought he was great.”
Johnson, a second-round pick out of Dallas Baptist University in 2024, surprisingly made the team out of the bullpen last year without ever pitching professionally. But he mostly scuffled, with a 7.36 ERA in 14 2/3 innings, and finished the year in the Minors.
Johnson, though, again unexpectedly made the team this year as a starter, but made just one start against the Cubs on March 30 before landing on the 15-day injured list with an illness and hamstring discomfort. He came back to pitch in relief in mid-May but gave up a combined eight runs in five innings to get sent back down to start with Double-A Rocket City.
He earned his way back to the Majors after posting a 2.21 ERA with 25 strikeouts and three walks in 20 1/3 innings at Double-A, and while he struggled in the first inning against the A’s, the Angels believed he deserved another chance to get a closer look as a starter.
“I'm excited that he got two starts in a row,” Suzuki said. “Get into a little bit of a routine and see what he's got. This year was tough early. He had that one start in Chicago and then he got sick, and then he got hurt, and then it was just kind of a whirlwind there. So it’s nice to see him get a couple starts in a row and pitch well.”
He more than made the most of it with his strong outing against Baltimore. The funky right-hander kept the Orioles off-balance with his assortment of cutters, sinkers, changeups and sweepers, generating 15 swings and misses, including six with his changeup and four each with his cutter and sweeper.
He said he was aware he was throwing a no-hitter but tried his best to block it from his mind, as he tried to keep his focus on each pitch. He said the key to his recent turnaround has been attacking the strike zone with his stuff.
“Just staying aggressive and kind of trusting it,” Johnson said. “Having confidence that I belong here and being able to use all my pitches.”
Nolan Schanuel, wearing extensive eye black on his face like Zach Neto, gave Johnson some early run support with a two-run blast in the first inning. He also received three insurance runs in the fifth, aided by a two-run single from Vaughn Grissom and a sacrifice fly from Jorge Soler.
Schanuel said he faced Johnson while the two were in college and was excited to see him come through with his impressive start.
“That was awesome,” Schanuel said. “I’ve seen the stuff he's got and it’s really good stuff. Seeing it come out tonight was awesome. He’s just a super good guy.”