ANAHEIM , Calif. — Angels right-hander Jose Soriano struggled in his made his first career start Wednesday, paving the way for the Tampa Bay Rays to defeat the Angels, 4-2, at Angels Stadium.
The 25-year old has made 40 appearances, all in relief and his first start was far from ideal.
After allowing three singles in the first inning, Soriano threw a wild pitch that saw two runners score. Moments later, an Isaac Paredes sac fly scored Richie Palacios and extended the Rays’ lead, 3-0.
The Angels were unable to dig out of the deficit despite allowing one run the rest of the game.
“That first inning, It was the back bender, simply because as the game went on he wasn’t able to sustain anything,” Angels manager Ron Washington said.
Washington said he would give Soriano another chance as a starter.
“The beginning was a difficult, I had some problems,” Soriano said. “But I didn’t let it affect me and I kept them from scoring more.”
The Rays added an insurance run in the second thanks to a solo home run by Jose Caballero.
The Angels got on the scoreboard in the fourth with a Zach Neto RBI single.
In the sixth, Jo Adell hit his first home run of the season, cutting the deficit in half, 4-2.
Reeling off the momentum from his homer in his previous at bat, Adell hit a single before he ran into what Washington called, “a teaching moment” eighth. Adell attempted to steal second but overran the bag for the final out of the inning.
“I don’t care what kind of jump you got, you’ve gotta get that bag,” Washington said. “It is a teaching moment, hopefully that will never happen again because when you actually look at it, it was embarrassing for all of us.
“I know Jo didn’t mean that in that manner, but you’re down 4-2. It was a teaching moment,”
Adell said he should’ve slid.
“I’ve got to get down, especially down by two,” he said. “That’s on me.”
The Angels will have Thursday off before heading east for a four-game set at Boston and a three-game series at Tampa Bay before heading to Cincinnati for three games.
