OAKLAND — José Soriano wasn’t able to pick up where he left off before a stint on the injured list.
The Angels right-hander pitched his best game of the season in his last time out, but three weeks later he returned to the mound and saw one bad inning cost him in the Angels’ 7-5 loss to the Oakland A’s on Tuesday night.
Soriano pitched his best game in the big leagues on June 12, going eight innings in a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the 25-year-old right-hander was scratched hours before his scheduled June 17 start because of an abdominal infection.
When he returned to the mound, the Angels had him on a limit of 65 pitches because of the missed time. Based on Soriano’s efficiency – particularly in that game in Arizona – the Angels still had hopes that he could get through five innings.
Soriano retired the first eight hitters of the game and got through three innings on 41 pitches, but things got away from him in the fourth inning.
Soriano hung a curveball to No. 3 hitter Brent Rooker, who hit a homer to center field. Soriano gave up another hit and issued a walk. Lawrence Butler got a fastball over the middle and he punched it the opposite way, clanking it off the left field pole for a three-run homer.
Soriano’s night ended after four innings and 62 pitches. The four runs he allowed equaled his season high.
Soriano still has a 3.77 ERA through 76⅓ innings, as he continues to establish himself as a potential long-term rotation piece for the Angels.
The deficit was manageable when Soriano left – and the Angels got one of the runs back in the fifth inning – but right-hander José Marte let the game get away in the sixth.
Marte hit a batter and gave up three hits, pushing home three more runs to drop the Angels into a 7-1 hole.
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The Angels’ offense wasted opportunities to have a nice night.
The Angels came up empty with two on and one out in the second, and they hit into double plays to scuttle potential rallies in the sixth and seventh.
The Angels scored two runs in the ninth against A’s closer Mason Miller before Taylor Ward struck out to end it. Nolan Schanuel, who had four RBIs, drove in a run in the ninth.
One encouraging sign was Brandon Drury collecting a single and two walks in his first start in two weeks. Drury had been out with a hamstring injury, and then he got a respiratory infection almost immediately after he was activated.
Drury is still hitting .175 with a .483 OPS, which is a far cry from the .803 OPS he produced last year. Drury still has just 126 plate appearances.
More to come on this story.