ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout drew a walk. Albert Pujols was intentionally walked. And Jose Iglesias came to the plate with the tying and go-ahead runners on base and two outs in the eighth inning.
It felt like a gamble from Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa, giving a free pass to his old first baseman with his team clinging to a one-run lead. But it worked, with closer Liam Hendriks inducing a deep fly out to diffuse the Angels’ last true threat in an eventual 12-8 win for the White Sox on Friday night at Angel Stadium.
It took a lot for the Angels to even make it close in their second game of the season, rallying from what was once a 7-1 deficit with a three-run fourth inning (courtesy of a three-run homer by Pujols) and two-run fifth (when White Sox right fielder Adam Eaton missed a fly ball near the foul line, allowing two runs to score).
The eighth inning was their best chance to come all the way back, though, as the White Sox piled on five runs in the top of the ninth to pull away.
It all started so well for Andrew Heaney.
A strikeout of Jose Abreu to complete a 1-2-3 first inning. Back-to-back Ks of Yoan Moncada and Andrew Vaughn to begin the next. And a flyout from Yasmani Grandal to end the second on a 95.2-mph heater, Heaney’s hardest pitch in the regular season since 2019.
In his first start of 2021, a season in which he is hoping to finally break through as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, Heaney retired his first seven batters overall with ease.
He would only get two more outs the rest of the night.
In the third inning, Heaney gave up back-to-back singles, then a two-out walk to load the bases, then a back-breaking grand slam to Abreu — the ball vanishing into the glove of a fan in the first row of the right field seats, and Heaney’s auspicious beginning to the night right along with it.
The left-hander was removed after giving up another run in the third, leaving behind two runners who also later scored. His final line: three-plus innings, seven earned runs, five hits, two walks, four strikeouts. His biggest problem: Limiting damage with his changeup.
During the first 21/3 innings, Heaney recorded six of his seven outs with the fastball — his most trusted pitch but also one he said this spring he has sometimes been too “stubborn” with, throwing it in situations where his off-speed and breaking offerings might be better.
But as the third inning unfolded, it was the changeup that undid Heaney’s start. Yermín Mercedes slapped one into center field for his first career hit. Nick Madrigal singled on another, dropping a line drive in front of Justin Upton in left. Heaney missed with back-to-back changeups to walk Luis Robert and load the bases. Then, he left one over the middle of the plate that Abreu didn’t miss.
Rodriguez, Rojas make MLB debuts
Rookie right-hander Chris Rodriguez, 22, didn’t look at all out of place in his MLB debut Friday, retiring six of the nine batters he faced in a scoreless two-inning outing with three strikeouts and a sizzling maximum fastball velocity of 97.6.
Infielder Jose Rojas, 28, also made his big-league debut, striking out in a pinch-hit at-bat in the bottom of the ninth.
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