CHICAGO — After coming up with a few big hits in games that didn’t count, Kyren Paris showed that he can do it when it counts, too.
Paris, who had a series of game-tying and go-ahead hits during spring training, hit a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon.
Paris’ homer came shortly after play was resumed following a 2-hour, 48-minute rain delay.
“He’s matured, man,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He’s growing up, you know. He’s believing. That’s what it takes for him to believe. And he came up big for us today.”
After Paris gave the Angels the lead, relievers Brock Burke and Kenley Jansen handled the final two innings, with the help of some nifty infield defense. Second baseman Luis Rengifo made a nice backhand play to end the eighth, and he and shortstop Tim Anderson collaborated on a quick double play to end the game.
Long before the Angels (2-1) celebrated a season-opening series victory, they watched right-hander Jack Kochanowicz bounce back from a rough first inning to have a quality start.
He didn’t get the victory because the offense went dormant between two runs in the first and Paris’ homer in the eighth.
Paris was not expected to crack the Opening Day roster, but he had a torrid spring, thanks to a swing that he reworked over the winter. A natural infielder, Paris also demonstrated his ability to play center field. That combination pushed the Angels to release outfielder Mickey Moniak and give Paris an opportunity as the backup center fielder.
When he came up in the eighth, he swung at a first-pitch fastball at the bottom of the zone and launched it over the fence in left.
“It feels real good,” Paris said. “All the work that I put in throughout the off season is showing up out on the field. That’s what I what I work for. So it’s nice to have success.”
Kochanowicz provided the Angels other most encouraging performance.
A ground ball specialist, Kochanowicz got off to an ominous start when he hung a sinker and allowed a homer on his third pitch. The White Sox hit three more balls at harder than 100 mph against him in the rest of the inning, scoring another run.
At that point, Kochanowicz and catcher Travis d’Arnaud realized that he didn’t have his best sinker, so for the rest of the game they mixed in more four-seam fastballs. Last year, Kochanowicz threw his four-seamer sparingly, but on Sunday he threw 27 sinkers and 26 four-seamers.
The adjustment helped Kochanowicz cruise through the rest of his outing. Kochanowicz needed just 48 pitches to get through the next five innings, facing the minimum 15 hitters.
“He didn’t have his best stuff, but he got us six innings,” Washington said. “He gave up the two in the first and then gave us five zeros. And at that point he didn’t have a whole lot of pitches (64), but I just thought that he had fought hard enough right there. And we had some pieces in the bullpen that needed to pitch and that I knew they could come in and get outs, and they came in and did it.”
Right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn got only one out before the rain delay. Right-hander Ben Joyce took the mound after the delay, with a runner at second. He got out of the inning.
After the homer, Burke and Jansen posted zeroes, thanks to Rengifo’s slick defense.
“We worked on defense all spring and it’s showing,” Washington said. “Everything he’s doing out there, we’ve seen him do in spring training. So I’m very happy with the way Rengifo played out there. He made some big plays down the stretch right there. They were huge for us. We needed those plays, and he gave it to us.”