Angels starting pitcher José Suarez has had a rough start to his season.
Suarez gave up four earned runs on 10 hits to Washington on Monday night at Angel Stadium, walking one batter on a pitch-timer violation. Three of those runs came in the fourth inning, his final of the game, as the left-hander struggled through a second straight start and the Angels failed to hold an early lead for a second straight defeat, 6-4 to the Nationals.
Hunter Renfroe hit his third home run in as many games, Luis Rengifo provided two RBIs in the first inning, and Gio Urshela contributed another RBI in the third as the Angels took a 4-1 lead.
But Suarez gave up three runs in the fourth, tying the game.
Though Suarez was unable to pitch more than four innings, the Angels now have a clearer answer to who they’ll have available to be their swing No. 6 starter Wednesday.
Tucker Davidson was needed to take over for Suarez in the fifth inning, making it unlikely that he will start Wednesday. And since Jaime Barría pitched Sunday, that means Griffin Canning, who is still on the injured list but is eligible to come off it Wednesday, appears to be the likely candidate.
In two starts, Suarez has been unable to get past the fifth inning, racking up 10 earned runs on 18 hits.
In Seattle, he gave up six earned runs, including two home runs, on eight hits in 41/3 innings. After that game, he said he was confident his start Monday at Angel Stadium would be better.
Suarez went into the April 4 game in Seattle having not pitched a competitive game since March 17 in spring training, and manager Phil Nevin said before Monday’s game that Suarez’s outing in Seattle was a learning experience and that a different atmosphere would help him.
In the comforts of the Angels’ home stadium and much warmer weather in Anaheim, Suarez got off to a solid start.
He gave up a leadoff hit to start the game but was able to retire the next three batters on a strikeout, pop-out and ground-out.
There were some hiccups in the second inning. He started the frame by giving up another single, then retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a fly-out. Back-to-back singles after that enabled the Nationals to drive in their first run.
Mike Trout reached a new milestone when he scored the first run of the game.
Driven in by a single from Rengifo, Trout set a new Angel Stadium record for career runs: 523.
The previous record was held by Garret Anderson (522).
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