04/18/26 12:58:00
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04/18 00:57 CDT Angels ace Jos Soriano has an 0.28 ERA, 39 Ks after 5
phenomenal starts to begin the season
Angels ace Jos Soriano has an 0.28 ERA, 39 Ks after 5 phenomenal starts to
begin the season
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) --- In just five starts, Jos Soriano's season with the
Los Angeles Angels has gone from good to great --- to historic.
Soriano pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning of the Angels' 8-0 victory
over the Padres on Friday night, ending San Diego's eight-game winning streak
with yet another dominant outing by Los Angeles' right-handed Dominican ace.
Soriano (5-0) has an ERA of 0.28 after allowing just one run in his first 32
2/3 innings this season. He leads the majors with 39 strikeouts while allowing
only 11 hits, and he's tied with Milwaukee's Aaron Ashby for the lead with five
wins.
Except for occasional control problems, Soriano has been overwhelming every
lineup he faces --- and Drake Baldwin's first-inning homer for Atlanta on April
6 is still the only run he has allowed all season. His 17-inning scoreless
streak is the second-longest in the majors this season, and opponents are
batting .104 against his 0.73 WHIP --- both the best in baseball.
"It's like a hot knife through butter," Angels slugger Jo Adell said. "It's
pretty crazy. It's really special, and he's a special talent. He's always had
the stuff to compete at this level, and he's doing what an ace does. Whatever
he's done, just keep doing it."
And after five straight dominant starts, Soriano has reached rare company.
The most recent pitcher to allow one earned run or fewer in each of his first
five starts in a season with at least 15 total innings pitched was the Dodgers'
Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, when he won the NL Cy Young award in his
groundbreaking rookie season. Walter Johnson also did it in 1913 --- and nobody
else.
Soriano is also the only pitcher in major league history to go at least five
innings while yielding one or fewer earned runs and three or fewer hits in each
of his first five starts to a season.
"I just feel confident to keep pitching like that," Soriano said. "I believe in
my catcher, and we're on the same page. I think that's a big part of the
results we're having."
While Soriano dazzled his previous two opponents with back-to-back,
10-strikeout outings over 15 combined innings to win the AL Player of the Week
award, he actually didn't overwhelm the Padres' veteran lineup.
San Diego drew four walks and forced Soriano to throw 99 pitches. The Padres
loaded the bases in the third before Soriano got Jackson Merrill to ground out,
but San Diego eventually chased him with a single and a walk with two outs in
the sixth.
"The thing that impressed was that to us, he had to grind a little bit
tonight," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. "I think that's the maturity showing
up, where he's learning how to pitch --- and I say this lightly --- without his
best stuff. He learned how to navigate a great lineup over there without his
best stuff ... and it was pretty incredible. You can't say enough."
Soriano has a 99-mph fastball and a sinker that ranks among the best in
baseball, but he's also mixing in a curve that has flummoxed his opponents. The
combination has been too much for any opponent through his first five starts.
"Knowing him from the past, you always thought of the high-90s sinker, and then
he comes in breaking out the curveball," Padres manager Craig Stammen said.
"That pitch was very impressive from the dugout. Gave our guys trouble at the
beginning. It's really hard to lay off that pitch, and it complements his
sinker. He did a great job tonight mixing his pitches. ... He's just a really
good pitcher."
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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