WEST SACRAMENTO -- After a frustrating loss in 10 innings that saw them fail to protect a seven-run lead in the sixth inning on Friday, it would’ve been easy for the Angels to let it linger and affect their play on Saturday.
But right-hander Walbert Ureña set the tone with five scoreless innings, and this time the bullpen was able to hold a late seven-run lead in a 7-0 win over the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. It snapped a three-game losing streak, and much like their last win on Tuesday, it was an all-around effort with eight different batters getting at least one hit.
“It was huge,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “These guys never stop fighting, man. We’ve had some tough losses and the next day they always come back fighting, almost even harder. So, I think it's a credit to them. That was awesome.”
Ureña, who scattered four hits and struck out six, has been a revelation for the Angels since joining the rotation on April 19. In his 12 starts, the 22-year-old has posted a 2.47 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 32 walks in 65 2/3 innings, and Saturday marked his 10th straight outing of going at least five innings and allowing three earned runs or fewer. It’s tied for the second-longest streak by an Angels rookie and trails only Marcelino López’s streak of 12 such games in 1965.
“I thought he did a really good job,” said catcher Tyler Heineman, who made his first start with his new club. “His stuff is really good. The sinker's late, hard. The changeup, it feels like he has command of it and can throw it behind in counts, which is a huge plus. And I thought his sweeper was really good today, so I was impressed.”
Notably, Ureña didn’t walk a batter for the first time in his career, although he did hit Tyler Soderstrom with a fastball in the first inning. It was his only shaky frame, as he loaded the bases with one out but got out of the jam. He struck out Jonah Heim before getting Lawrence Butler to ground out to third to end the inning. It also came after the A’s had Ureña remove his Dominican Republic-themed headband before the inning and replace it with a red one.
Ureña said he took it in stride and couldn’t help but let out a big smile when he mentioned he didn’t walk a batter.
“It was something about [the headband] being white in the back and might bother the hitters,” Ureña said. “But I just blocked it out and tried to focus on my game. I threw too many pitches, but everything worked. And no walks, so I feel good about that.”
Otherwise, Ureña settled in and retired 10 in a row after loading the bases in the first. He gave up a one-out double to Jeff McNeil in the fifth but stranded him in scoring position by striking out Nick Kurtz with a 3-2 changeup and getting Shea Langeliers to ground out to first to end his outing after 90 pitches.
“He’s having a good season,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “He’s got a plus-fastball that is mixed in with a pretty above-average changeup, and he dominated with that tonight. Used his sweeper, too, to the righties. But the fastball-changeup mix had lefties a little bit off balance. Overall, sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a good pitching performance. He did a nice job tonight.”
Ureña received some early run support with the Angels scoring twice in the second inning, keyed by a leadoff double from Jo Adell, an RBI single from Donovan Walton and a sacrifice fly from Jose Siri.
But the Halos finally broke it open after Ureña departed, scoring four runs in the sixth with Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel connecting on consecutive two-run doubles. The cushion allowed the Angels to go to the bullpen, with rookie Samy Natera Jr. throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief before handing it over to Ryan Zeferjahn and Kirby Yates.
Fellow rookie Denzer Guzman gave the Angels another insurance run with a solo blast to left field in the seventh, marking the third baseman’s second straight game with a homer after not going deep through his first nine games this season.
“Guzie's looking like he's kind of settling in a little bit on the defensive side and the offensive side,” Suzuki said. “The confidence is there. Remember he's 22 years old, but we were talking about it in the dugout, it looks like he belongs.”