CHICAGO -- José Soriano is human after all.
After posting a historic 0.24 ERA through his first six starts with one run allowed in 37 2/3 innings, Soriano gave up three runs on six hits, including two homers, over five innings against the White Sox on Tuesday night at Rate Field. It caused Soriano’s ERA to jump to 0.84 through his first seven outings and Fernando Valenzuela’s record of carrying a 0.29 ERA through his first seven starts in 1981 still stands.
Much like his last start against the Blue Jays that saw him get through five scoreless innings, Soriano didn’t have his best stuff and saw his fastball velocity dip during his outing. He also had trouble finding the strike zone, as he needed 97 pitches to record 15 outs and only 57 of those went for strikes.
Soriano looked like his dominant self early, striking out the side on 16 pitches in the first inning, putting away hitters with his knuckle-curveball and splitter. But he gave up a solo homer to Colson Montgomery in the second on a 2-2 knuckle-curve over the heart of the plate.
It snapped a scoreless streak of 25 2/3 innings for Soriano, who hadn’t allowed a run since surrendering a solo shot to Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin on April 6. It also put the Angels in an early hole before Jo Adell delivered a game-tying RBI single in the fourth.
Soriano, though, scuffled through a third inning that saw him issue three walks to load the bases. But Soriano got Montgomery to ground out to second to get out of the jam unscathed.
He wasn’t as fortunate in the fourth, however, as he gave up a one-out single to Sam Antonacci on a 96 mph sinker over the middle of the plate before serving up a two-run homer to Drew Romo on a 2-2 sinker that registered 96.4 mph at the bottom of the zone. It was the first career homer for Romo and the first time Soriano had allowed multiple homers in a game since Aug. 15, 2025.
Soriano’s velocity was down a tick in the fourth with his sinker averaging 96 mph, which is almost one mph lower than his season average of 96.9 mph. But he went back out for the fifth on 84 pitches and gave up a pair of singles.
He was visited at the mound with two outs by manager Kurt Suzuki, pitching coach Mike Maddux and trainer Eric Munson, but remained in the game. He got Austin Hays to ground out to end his outing and remain perfect when facing batters with runners in scoring position this year, as they are 0-for-15 against him in those situations this season.
It certainly wasn’t all bad for Soriano, however, as he kept the Angels in the game and missed bats, striking out six and registering a season-high 19 swings and misses. Soriano’s 0.84 ERA is also the lowest in club history through seven starts, just edging Kirk McCaskill’s 0.87 ERA through seven outings in 1989.