The Los Angeles Angels avoided a weekend sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays by winning the series finale 6-1 on Mother's Day.
The Los Angeles Angels are tied with the Houston Astros, a fellow American League West team, for the worst record in the AL at 16-25 after losing two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.
The Angels salvaged the series and avoided getting swept with a 6-1 victory on Mother’s Day after a dominant bounce-back performance from ace right-hander José Soriano. Soriano pitched into the eighth, completing 7.2 innings and allowing one run on five hits and one walk with seven strikeouts to earn his sixth win of the season.
Blue Jays left-hander Eric Lauer took the loss and allowed all six runs in five innings of relief. The Halos belted three home runs: a two-run shot from second baseman Oswald Peraza in the fifth and two solo homers off the bat of outfielder Jo Adell (sixth, ninth innings).
For the most part, pitching has been a problem for Los Angeles. Soriano and right-hander Jack Kochanowicz have been great, but there has been a drop-off after those two. The Angels could get a spark from right-hander Alek Manoah, who is set to make his first "start" since May 29, 2024.
It won’t go down as a statistical start because Los Angeles will opt for an opener, but Manoah is getting the bulk innings. Several factors have kept Manoah from pitching in the big leagues since that start two years ago, but he made his first appearance against his former team on Friday and pitched a perfect eighth inning with a strikeout.
The team may have lost to Toronto 2-0 that game, but that had to be a special moment for the former All-Star. Manoah had a terrific start to his Major League Baseball career with the Blue Jays, finishing eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2021 and third in AL Cy Young voting in 2022.
Manoah had a 2.60 ERA over his first 51 starts through the 2022 season, the year he earned his All-Star nod, but the wheels fell off from there. Manoah had a 5.87 ERA across 19 starts the following year and control issues led to a chaotic summer.
The big right-hander was demoted to the rookie-level Florida Complex League to fix his mechanics, and it appeared that Manoah had fixed his control problems when he pitched six innings and allowed one run on five hits and no walks with eight strikeouts in his return a month later.
And then the wheels fell off again. Manoah allowed 15 runs and 17 walks in his next five starts (23.1 innings) and was optioned to Triple-A, except he didn’t report and didn’t pitch again.
He made five starts in 2024 and had a 3.70 ERA but had his season ended by Tommy John surgery and he was eventually designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. He had a brief stint in the Atlanta Braves organization before being let go and was subsequently signed to a one-year deal by the Angels.
Manoah will face the Cleveland Guardians and left-hander Joey Cantillo in the first of three games. Cantillo is 2-1 with a 3.43 ERA and 1.37 WHIP through eight starts (39.1 innings), last working against the Kansas City Royals. He pitched five innings of one-run ball on three hits and three walks with one punchout.
First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. PDT on ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV and regional sports networks.