Santana homers twice in Shoemaker's return

March 3rd, 2017

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Brewers right fielder homered twice, but the Angels rallied for a 6-5 win on a walkoff single by Friday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Santana, who is coming off an injury-plagued first season with Milwaukee, slugged a two-run homer off Angels starter in the first and added a solo shot off in the third. Both pitches were breaking balls.
"You just want to put in the game what you put in practice," said Santana, who spent his day off on Thursday working on an up-the-middle approach with Brewers Minor League coach Sandy Guerrero. "[Staying back on the ball] is a big key. My first couple of games I played, I was going over the top too much."
Angels reliever departed his spring debut with a right lat strain after facing two batters in the third. Right-hander also exited in the fifth with an apparent blister.

hit an RBI double to get the Angels on the board in the third, and knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Halos remain unbeaten in Cactus League play this year and are now 7-0.
Right-hander , a potential Opening Day starter for the Brewers, pitched two hitless innings with one walk and one strikeout. Rotation mate Jimmy Nelson followed and allowed one run on one hit with two strikeouts in one inning.

Shoemaker, who was making his first start since being hit on the head by a line drive in September, allowed two runs on two hits while walking two and striking out two over two innings. Shoemaker has been experimenting with protective headwear this spring and wore a small carbon fiber head guard from Safer Sports Technologies on the inside of his cap during the outing to protect the right side of his skull.
"I got out there and [there was] a little excitement, which was good," Shoemaker said. "I was talking to [catcher] Carlos [Perez] and [pitching coach Charles Nagy], and I'm like, 'Every pitch seemed like I was overthrowing it.'
"The head thing, it had no bearing on it, which was great," he added. "After recovery was done, it all went away. Mentally, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to get back out there."
, a dark horse candidate for the Angels' closer job, worked a scoreless inning in his first Cactus League appearance of the year.

Brewers Up Next: is set for his second spring start when the Brewers host the Rangers at Maryvale Baseball Park on Saturday. The 2:05 p.m. CT game will be live on MLB.TV.
Angels Up Next: Left-hander will make his spring debut on Saturday when the Angels face the White Sox at Camelback Ranch on MLB.TV. First pitch is at 12:10 p.m. PT.
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