Soriano, Adell Boost Trade Value In 3-2 Win Over St. Louis

The Los Angeles Angels welcomed back the real Jose Soriano in a strong start that could be a precursor to a trade, as the Angels used a weird ninth-inning rally with Jo Adell in the middle of it to get a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of their three-game set. 

Soriano has been mostly serviceable since his brilliant month-long run to start the season, but last night he was far more than that. He pitched seven strong innings and struck out seven as he scatted for hits to go with a walk. 

The 27-year old right-hander has been hearing trade rumors for a month, but Soriano said he’s been trying to keep his head in the game as the Aug. 3 deadline draws closer. 

“I don't try to think of that,” Soriano said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “I let my agent and GM work on that. Right now, I just try to focus to help the team the most I can and give my best every game.”

Soriano is at his best when he’s throwing strikes, and he knows that’s the key to his return to form. 

“Just trying to keep my head up and never give up,” Soriano said. “I know I’ve had a tough time. But the last couple outings I feel like I started getting back and that's that's the goal. Trying to get back to where I was in the beginning [of the season].”

Outfielder Jo Adell has also been on the block, and he’s starting to heat up. Last night he hit his 14th homer in the third inning to get the Angels on the board, and he was hit by a pitch to get the winning run home in the kind of strange ninth inning rally that seems to be something of an Angels trademark. 

“That's one of those where you don't feel it getting hit right there,” Adell said about Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien losing his command after coming into the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead. “Good stuff.”

As for the power surge, Adell nows he won’t equal his stellar production last year when he hit 37 home runs, and he didn’t comment about being a trade target. 

“It's been no secret I've been struggling the past week,” Adell said. “But just getting back to seeing pitches and not trying to do too much. I felt like my first at-bat was kind of an example of just waiting it out and finding a pitch, and really just tried to do that throughout the course of the game, so good things happened.”

The list of good things also included rare back-to-back wins by the Angels, but the focus is on the deadline right now, and Soriano and Adell both did their parts in this one.