ST. LOUIS — Four games into the season, the Angels are showing a better ability to execute in the clutch than they did last year.
The Angels pulled out a 5-4, 10-inning victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, their third straight one-run victory.
In this one, the Angels (3-1) overcame a two-run deficit, and made all the big pitches and big defensive plays to come out on top.
In the 10th, Kyren Paris – who had tied the score with a triple in the seventh – drew a leadoff walk. Kevin Newman then dropped down a bunt to move both Paris and automatic runner Luis Rengifo into scoring position.
After an intentional walk to Taylor Ward loaded the bases, Nolan Schanuel hit a grounder to second baseman Brendan Donovan, whose throw home was late. The Cardinals didn’t get an out, which allowed Mike Trout the chance to drive in an insurance run with his second sacrifice fly of the game.
In the bottom of the 10th, rookie right-hander Ryan Johnson took advantage of the extra cushion. He allowed the automatic runner to score, but nothing else.
It completed a night in which the Angels relievers did not allow an earned run in five innings. Relievers Reid Detmers, Ryan Zeferjahn, Garrett McDaniels, Brock Burke and Johnson did the job. The top two relievers, Ben Joyce and Kenley Jansen, were unavailable after helping to secure the previous two victories.
McDaniels got out of a jam in the eighth with the help of a nice stop from third baseman Yoán Moncada.
The execution on the mound and in the field was vital because the offense still hasn’t broken loose.
The Angels had only four hits, with four of their runs scoring on outs. The only RBI hit belonged to Paris, one of the only hot hitters on the team.
When Paris tied the score, he took Tyler Anderson off the hook for a loss.
Anderson gave up three runs in five innings, working around trouble throughout his 91-pitch outing.
Anderson made an early mistake when he left a 1-and-2 changeup over the heart of the plate, and Lars Nootbaar hit it barely over the right field fence.
Anderson gave up another homer to Brendan Donavan in the second inning, this one on better pitch. It was a sinker down and in.
The final run scored after two walks and a bloop hit in the fifth.
More to come on this story.