The Los Angeles Angels lost another game last night, and they also lost a starter when Urena was hit by a line drive.
The Los Angeles Angels lost their 11th game in 12 tries last night against the New York Mets, 4-3, and they also lost yet another starting pitcher to an injury when Walbert Urena got hit in the knee by a line drive.
The Angels broke out to a two-run lead in the first inning on a home run by Jorge Soler, and Zach Neto singlehandedly made it 3-0 with some spark-plug base running as he stole second after being hit by a pitch in the third inning by Mets starter Christian Scott. Neto then tried to steal third, and catcher Francisco Alvarez airmailed the throw into left to bring home Neto.
That was more than enough for Urena through five innings, but in the sixth he took a Bo Bichette liner off his knee that knocked him out of the game. The good news is that Urena only suffered a bruise, and the Angels think he’ll be able to make his next start.
“He took a hard shot off the side of his leg, but it looks like just a bruise,”said manager Kurt Suzuki in a recap written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “We took him out as a precaution. He said he was OK, but you don’t want it to lead to something with the arm. We didn’t want to take that chance.”
Urena threw a few warmup pitches after a mound visit from Suzuki, pitching coach Mike Maddux and two members of the training staff, but the bad news was that his exit brought the Angels bullpen into the picture. Brent Suter was the primary goat as he gave up two runs, but Chase Silseth also contributed as the Mets rallied to tie the game, with the key hit coming on an RBI single by Marcus Semien that plated a pair of runs.
New reliever Jose Fermin completed the bullpen carnage by surrendering a solo home run to Ronny Mauricio in the seventh to make it 4-3, and that was enough to send the Angels to yet another loss. The Angels managed just three hits in this one, and they struck out 14 times as Mets relievers retired 21 straight hitters after the Halos took the early lead.
Suzuki chose to focus on Urena, which was more than understandable given some of the bad bullpen outings he’s been forced to watch lately. The Angels are quietly building something resembling a rotation with their young pitchers, and Urena looks like he’s going to be an integral part of the effort.
“He was awesome,” Suzuki said. “You can kind of see him settling in a little bit now with a few starts under his belt without the pressure or anxiety of going out there. You see him kind of moving slower, and it’s fun to watch.”