Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

On Wed, May 6, the Los Angeles Angels sought to win their first series in nearly a month as they hosted the Chicago White Sox. After losing the series opener to Chicago on Monday, the Angels hung on to win 4-3 on Cinco de Mayo against the White Sox. Walbert Ureña was starting after having a solid start against the New York Mets ended due to a line drive ball hitting his knee. The bullpen was unable to hold onto a 3-0 lead and Ureña was robbed of his first big league win. Now looking for another chance to get it, Ureña faced off against Noah Schultz of Chicago.

The game started with both teams going scoreless in the first and then in the second inning the White Sox started the scoring with a couple of hits by their young infielders that set up a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi. Ureña gave up a couple of walks and the bases were loaded with two outs. Sam Antonacci came up looking to provide a crooked number for Chicago but he flew out to left field to end the scoring threat. In the bottom of the second, the Halos got a couple of runners on and with two outs, Travis d’Arnaud came up and hit a line drive to left field. The ball sailed into the White Sox bullpen for a three-run homer for d’Arnaud’s first big fly and RBIs of the season. With a 3-1 lead, the Angels kept swinging as Bryce Teodosio got a double and Zach Neto hit a ball out to right field that turned out to be an RBI triple. Mike Trout came up looking to get lucky and he hit a pop fly into the air that was destined to end up in the glove of Chase Meidroth. But instead Meidroth had issues with seeing where the ball was hit into the bright sky and the ball fell next to him. Neto had already touched home plate as Trout, who hit a home run the nigh before, had probably one of the oddest RBIs of his career. It was a five-run inning for the Angels and all of them were scored with two outs.

Pitching with a four-run lead, Ureña did well to have an efficient outing as he had five strikeouts and didn’t give up any more runs. Meanwhile, the Halos scored a couple of additional runs in the bottom of the fourth with a couple of hit by pitches when the bases were loaded by Osvaldo Bido, who relieved Schultz in relief. It was a 7-1 lead and Ureña kept it that way as he pitched six innings. Being relieved by Brent Suter in the top of the seventh inning, Ureña was well in line for that elusive first big league win.

Suter had a bit of a rough outing as he gave up a single and a couple of walks to load the bases with two outs. Drew Pomeranz, who had himself a tough week to conclude April, came in and hit Antonacci to bring one run home with two outs. Thankfully, he struck out Munetaka Murakami to conclude another scoring threat from the White Sox.

Another run was scored by the Angels in the bottom of the eighth on a sac fly by Neto as Chase Silseth pitched the final two innings of the game and only allowed one runner to reach. The Halos won 8-2 and clinched their first series win since Apr 10-12 against the Cincinnati Reds. A 3-3 homestand was definitely a good thing for the Angels after a winless road trip that concluded April. Ureña had his first big league win as a pitcher and he continues to function in a rotation that has been desperate for some depth. Yusei Kikuchi is on the injured list with shoulder inflammation suffered in a start against the White Sox on Wed Apr 29. Meanwhile, Grayson Rodriguez is trying to work his way back from an elbow injury and make his official Angels debut. Some good news for both the starting rotation and bullpen is that Kirby Yates and Alek Manoah have both been activated from the IL after appearing in rehab stints with the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. So, the Angels pitching staff is getting healthier as they are set to go on a road trip to Toronto and Cleveland before returning home for a ten-game homestand that will kick off with the first three-game set of the Freeway Series against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Currently sitting in a tie for last place in the AL West with the Houston Astros, the Halos will look to break out of a tough 5-13 rut in these past few weeks and attempt to have another May filled with a lot of victories.