Griffin Canning works season-best 7 innings in Angels’ victory over A’s
ANAHEIM — As the Angels run low on starting pitchers, they are going to need every inning they can get out of the ones who remain.
Griffin Canning – one of two pitchers to be in the rotation since the season began – pitched a season-high seven innings in the Angels’ 5-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Monday night.
Tyler Anderson, who starts on Tuesday, is the other pitcher who has stayed in the rotation all season. Patrick Sandoval, who said on Monday he’s headed for season-ending elbow surgery, joined Chase Silseth and José Soriano on the injured list, while Reid Detmers went to Triple-A because of ineffectiveness.
Zach Plesac came up from the minors to fill one of the holes, but there are two others, including one coming up on Wednesday.
The Angels haven’t yet said who is going to start on Wednesday, but whatever they do, the bullpen will be fresher because of the innings that Canning provided on Monday.
“That was awesome,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He was in command the whole night.”
Canning gave up a second-inning homer to Tyler Nevin, the son of former Angels manager Phil Nevin.
Otherwise, he did not allow the A’s to get a runner into scoring position until the sixth. Miguel Andujar doubled to lead off that inning, but Canning quickly picked him off.
Canning needed just 97 pitches to get through seven innings, striking out five and walking one.
Canning said he was particularly satisfied that he threw a first-pitch strike to 19 of the 25 hitters he faced.
“I’m just just proud of that,” Canning said. “It’s what we preach and I haven’t necessarily done it very well. I’m super happy about it.”
Canning said it was because he had a better approach.
“Just kind of trusting my fastball a bit more, just knowing the guys I can kind of jump ahead with fastballs against and go from there,” Canning said.
The performance helped him snap a personal four-game losing streak, even though he’d pitched well enough to win at least two of the games.
Right-hander Ben Joyce followed Canning to the mound and pitched a scoreless inning.
Joyce has now worked 6⅔ scoreless innings in four games since he added a sinker to his repertoire, to go along with his 102 mph fastball and slider.
Angels pitchers got all the offensive support they needed on one swing from Taylor Ward in the first inning.
Ward’s two-run homer, his 13th of the season, was notable because just two pitches earlier he had ducked out of the way of a 97 mph fastball that was near his head. Ward, of course, missed the final two months of the season last year after suffering multiple fractures when he was hit in the face by a pitch.
If there was any concern that the close call would have an impact on the rest of the Ward’s at-bat, he put it to rest when he lined a shot over the fence in right center.
Ward is 5 for 13 since he snapped an 0-for-20 slump last week.
Luis Rengifo, Willie Calhoun and Zach Neto all contributed two hits apiece to the Angels’ eight-hit attack.