ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — In just five starts, José 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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