Angels bounce back against Diamondbacks behind Soriano's strong start

Starter Jose Soriano dazzled on the mound while the Angels' offense jumped into action early to help earn an 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Wednesday night.

Soriano was elite for most of the evening and even managed to pitch into the ninth inning before being pulled. He provided his deepest start of the season, finishing with eight innings and allowing five hits. The hard-throwing righty improved to 4-5 behind his second straight win.

He has now allowed just three earned runs across 14 total innings in June so far. Thanks to some solid defense behind him, he was able to negate early traffic on the bases and deliver a big-time start for the Angels.

The Los Angeles lineup was clicking on all cylinders. They were aggressive early, plating seven of their eight runs within the first four innings. Jo Adell and Zach Neto each blasted homers to help the Angels pad their lead. The team has now put up at least 11 hits in each of their last three games, going 2-1 in that span.

Neto and Nolan Schanuel each collected three hits, combining for six of the team's 14. Matt Thais was the only starter for Los Angeles who did not manage to record a hit in the contest.

The Angels improved to 26-41 and 15-18 on the road. They will look to take the series in the rubber match on Thursday and avoid taking their second consecutive series loss. For now, they remain 1 1/2 games above the Athletics in the race to avoid last place in the AL West.

Here are three takeaways:

Soriano flirts with complete game

In his longest start of the year, Soriano came up short of the full nine innings. He started the frame on the mound but was relieved by Matt Moore after allowing a leadoff single. He struck out five and walked two along the way, continuing his recent impressive stretch.

It was a suffocating start to the night for Soriano, who faced the minimum across his first seven innings. He was assisted by four double plays during his start which helped to keep Arizona off of the basepaths. Christian Walker finally managed to get the Diamondbacks on the board with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth. However, he would bounce back nicely, managing to strike out the side.

The ball was put in play the majority of the time for Arizona, as Soriano induced 12 groundouts on the evening. He only collected two of his five strikeouts within the first seven innings. Nonetheless, he managed to force the Diamondback hitters to put the ball in play to the right places.

The 25-year-old continued to throw the ball hard, using frequent fastballs. He holds the highest average fastball velocity in the majors at a whopping 98.6 MPH. Soriano also managed to continue his dominance on the road this season. He is now 3-1 on the road, allowing just 12 earned runs across 46.1 innings.

After the game, he spoke on his performance with the help of teammate Carlos Esteves, who stepped in to translate. "He said he felt great because he could help the team, stay out there longer and help the bullpen since we had that game yesterday," Estevez said. "It's truly amazing because he really believes in his teammates and the guys he has behind him...he knows he's going to throw his sinker to put the ball in play and get those ground balls."

It was certainly a career night for Soriano, whose ERA is down to 3.48. After posting a 3.28 ERA in May, things have looked even better throughout June.

Neto, Adell provide the power

The Angels managed to grab the momentum early thanks to some big home runs from two members of their young core. Shortstop Zach Neto blasted a solo shot in the second inning that would be his first hit of the night.

The homer came as part of a 3-5 day for Neto, who provided two RBI total. He has now produced six home runs and 13 RBI across the months of May and June. It has been a much better stretch of baseball for the 23-year-old, who had just a .486 OPS across March and April. He will look to keep improving and helped the Angels in a nice way on Wednesday.

Jo Adell was the next player to get in on the fun, launching a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

The moonshot put Los Angeles up 6-0 and helped to ruin the day for Arizona starter Slade Cecconi. He would last just 3 innings, allowing 10 hits and seven earned runs. Cecconi is now 1-5 with a 6.70 ERA. As for Adell, he smacked his 12th homer of the year to snap a 27-at-bat streak without an RBI. He is tied with Taylor Ward for the team lead in home runs. Additionally, Adell is one of just six players this season with 11 or more home runs and nine or more stolen bases.

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are the only other Angels' players within the past 15 years to reach those totals within the first 66 games of the season.

It was a great night for the young duo, who combined for 5 of 8 RBI. Hopefully, they can carry their momentum into the rubber match and help Los Angeles come away with a series win on the road. Regardless, it was encouraging to see the pair lighting it up and paving the way to victory on Tuesday.

Angels convert with runners on

Los Angeles went 5-14 with runners in scoring position (.357), making sure to come through when they had their chances. Luis Rengifo had two hits in such situations while Jo Adell, Willie Calhoun and Nolan Schanuel each had one. Scanhuel finished the night going 3-5. It was his fourth three-hit game of the season. Rengifo finished 2-4 with an RBI as his average raised to .315. The infielder has been arguably the most productive bat on the team in 2024.

The squad recorded all five of the hits within the first five innings. It was an early attack in general, with 12 of the team's 14 hits coming in the first four innings. Luckily, the eight runs they plated were enough to make up for just two hits the rest of the way.

Manager Ron Washington spoke about the team's early offense. "I just think we came out tonight and we jumped on them right away and just didn't stop," he said. "It doesn't matter what you say in a meeting, because once those guys go between them lines, it's all up to them. So tonight was up to them." Washington was referring to a pregame meeting that the team had conducted.

With more potential reinforcements on the way for the series finale, things are only looking more positive for the lineup. Logan O'Hoppe has been cleared to play and could make his return to the lineup on Thursday after taking a precautionary day off. He took a foul ball to the groin on Tuesday night. Taylor Ward, who was held out of the lineup after exiting on Tuesday with a tight lower back, could also return.

The Angels and Diamondbacks will face off at 6:40 on Sunday night as they each look to claim the series in the rubber match. Los Angeles will send out starter Griffin Canning (2-6, 4.65 ERA) to face Arizona's Brandon Pfaadt (2-5, 4.60 ERA).