ANAHEIM -- At long last, the Angels earned a series win and it came by a comfortable margin.
Rookie right-hander Walbert Ureña threw six strong innings to pick up his first career win while veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud hit a three-run homer as part of a five-run second inning to lift the Angels to a 8-2 victory over the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium. It marked the first time the club had won back-to-back games since April 16-17 and was their first series victory since taking two out of three from the Reds from April 10-12 in Cincinnati.
“It was nice,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “They deserve it. They played well, pitching, defense, great plays made and then timely offense with big hits using the whole field. It was great. We felt good about last night and coming into today we felt confident. You try to carry that momentum from game to game and just keep building off of this and see where we go.”
It was a much-needed team win, as they rallied with two outs in the second before tacking on two insurance runs in the fourth while the bullpen held down the fort after Ureña departed despite a shaky seventh inning from lefty Brent Suter.
Ureña, ranked as the club’s No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline, was treated to a celebratory beer shower by his teammates after the game and the 22-year-old Dominican Republic native was ecstatic to earn his first career win.
“It means a lot,” Ureña said. “I do everything I can and come to work every year after working hard every offseason to do this, so it's a lot of fun.”
The Angels could've used some good luck during their recent rough stretch and received some in that second inning while facing White Sox lefty Noah Schultz. Nolan Schanuel hit into what looked to be an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, only for shortstop Colson Montgomery to have trouble getting the ball out of his glove to keep the inning alive.
They made the White Sox pay for the miscue, as d’Arnaud followed with a three-run homer to left to give the Angels a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. It was the first homer of the year for d’Arnaud and his first RBIs in 14 games this season.
d'Arnaud later exited after trying to beat out an infield single in the fourth.
“He had some foot soreness, just kind of seeing what it is,” Suzuki said. “He had a tough time putting any pressure on it so we just took him out for precautionary reasons."
After d’Arnaud’s homer, the Angels kept it going with Bryce Teodosio doubling and scoring on an RBI triple from Zach Neto, who snapped an 0-for-23 funk on Tuesday with a single and a homer and the help of opening some Pokémon cards. Mike Trout then lifted a high pop-up on the infield but second baseman Chase Meidroth lost it in the sun for what went down as an RBI single in the box score.
The Angels also tacked on a pair of runs after loading the bases in the fourth, as both Jorge Soler and Jo Adell were hit by pitches to bring home the runs. And they also added another in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Neto.
“It felt really good, that's for sure,” Suzuki said. “It was nice that they kept adding on. Had that big inning and then they added on a couple more and then another one there late. So a good job by them, they kept their foot on the gas and they kept going.”
It was more than enough for Ureña, who gave up a run in the second on a sac fly after giving up a leadoff double and a single but otherwise settled down. He surrendered just two hits and three walks with five strikeouts to see his ERA improve to 3.22 in 22 1/3 innings this year.
Ureña surprisingly made the club as a reliever but scuffled early in the year. However, he has started to find his footing as a starter, allowing one run over five-plus innings in his last outing against the Mets before coming out after being hit on the knee by a line drive. Ureña claimed he felt fine against Chicago.
“Being a reliever was new for me at that point,” Ureña said. “Being a starter is really better for me because that's what I’ve done all my career. And now I’m getting my chance to do it.”