ANAHEIM — The Angels have plenty of players looking to rebound from disappointing seasons in 2023, and none of them so far has been more successful than Tyler Anderson.
The left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings in a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
Anderson hasn’t allowed a run in 14 innings this season. He became the first Angels pitcher since Hector Santiago in 2016 to pitch at least seven scoreless innings in two consecutive games. The Angels had never had a pitcher do it in his first two starts of the season.
It’s been an eye-opening start for a pitcher who posted a 5.43 ERA in 2023, the first season after the Angels signed him to a three-year, $39 million deal.
When Anderson walked off the mound in the eighth inning on Monday, he was greeted by a standing ovation.
“That was great,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of we have a lot of great fans. I feel like last year I didn’t pitch well for them. So to start off the year this way when people are here always feels good.”
Anderson got all the offensive support he needed from Mike Trout, who to a lesser degree is also looking to prove something this season. Trout tripled and hit his fifth home run of the season, equaling the major league lead. He also singled. Trout is now hitting .297 with an OPS of 1.138.
Taylor Ward also drove in three runs with his three hits, including a single to drive in Trout after his RBI triple in the first. That gave Anderson a 2-0 lead before the second inning, and he then cruised through a Rays lineup that included nine right-handed hitters.
He needed just 91 pitches to record 21 outs, leaving to a standing ovation after allowing a leadoff hit in the eighth. He struck out three and walked one.
The only trouble he faced was in the fourth inning.
Anderson walked Randy Arozarena and then Isaac Paredes pulled a grounder down the third base line, for a double. Amed Rosario hit a sharp liner, but it was right to first baseman Brandon Drury. Curtis Mead then hit a fly ball that Trout caught on the warning track.
Anderson said the differences from last year to this year are his mental approach and his defense.
“I think really just trying to go pitch-to-pitch, and not try to think too much,” Anderson said. “Just just try to execute as many as you can. And then really our defense has been great the last two for me, which is huge. I don’t get a lot of strikeouts. Our positioning has been really good. A lot of things that we’ve talked about. Guys have made really good adjustments, our staff’s made great adjustments. Having guys in the right spot at the right time is huge.”
Related Articles
Angels place Chase Silseth on the injured list, move José Soriano into rotation
Alexander: For a rebuilding Angels team, it’s all about hope
Angels struggle everywhere in blowout loss to Red Sox
Angels’ Jo Adell sitting and waiting for playing time
Reid Detmers leads Angels past Red Sox
Anderson got some help from another player looking to give the Angels some value after a disappointing tenure with the team.
Anthony Rendon had two singles and a double, his first multi-hit game of the season. Rendon is now 6 for 16 since his 0-for-21 start to the season. Rendon led off the game with a hit and then scored on Trout’s triple into right field. Rendon’s single in the fifth sparked a two-run rally that pushed the Angels lead to 5-0. Rendon’s double in the eighth led to another run.
Luis Rengifo also drove in a run with a seventh-inning single.
Eight of the nine players in the starting lineup reached with a hit or walk.
The full-squad performance was a dramatic turnaround from Sunday’s ugly 12-2 loss.
“You find out the character of the people you’re around when you get knocked down the way we got knocked down yesterday,” manager Ron Washington said. “We come back and proved there is some character in that room. We just got to learn, as I always say, to be able to sustain, to be consistent. Yeah, we got punched, but it didn’t bother us. We came back. We prepared. And we went out and played.”