CLEVELAND _ Two years and one week ago, amid their startling 98-win season, the Angels traded an interesting but injury-plagued pitching prospect to Cleveland for a once-successful reliever they hoped could buttress their burgeoning bullpen.
The deal's bungling long since became clear, but Saturday's game at Progressive Field crystallized it. The reliever was Vinnie Pestano, then a 29-year-old with a 5.00 earned-run average. He threw 22 1/3 innings for the Angels between that year and 2015, and is no longer pitching professionally.
The prospect was Mike Clevinger, then a 23-year-old hard thrower working his way back from Tommy John surgery. And, making his fifth major league start for the Indians Saturday, Clevinger no-hit the Angels for 5 2/3 innings Saturday night. From his atypical stutter-step delivery, Clevinger uncorked fastballs up to 96 mph. Many were wild; he walked four and allowed a run before he yielded a hit, an infield single to Andrelton Simmons in the sixth.
Earlier, the Angels produced some should-be hits. Twice, Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez plucked line drives out of the air. But Simmons' tapper toward left field was the Angels' only hit in a 5-1 defeat, their ninth consecutive loss that sunk them to 49-67 in 2016.
"We hit a couple balls hard," Simmons said. "But their defense was unbelievable tonight."
Indians Manager Terry Francona removed Clevinger after Simmons' single. Cleveland has cared for him carefully, even now, four years removed from surgery. He is of course, exactly the type of young pitcher his former franchise so desperately needs, for the future and for now, as they will again turn to veteran journeyman Jhoulys Chacin again Tuesday, in what amounts to a wasted start.
Angels Manager Mike Scioscia could only recall watching Clevinger throw one inning during minor league camp.
"He got injured, and had some other issues, and obviously he's getting an opportunity here," Scioscia said. "He's putting it together very nicely."
Cleveland scored three runs off Angels starter Matt Shoemaker with two outs in the first inning and another in the second. He settled thereafter and scattered a dozen hits for five runs over six innings.
Shoemaker outpitched all of the American League for most of May and June, but since July's start, he had pitched to a more standard 3.97 earned-run average before Saturday. Asked before the game if Shoemaker is pitching the same way he did during his dominant stretch, Scioscia took issue with the insinuation that his starter is not performing well.
"Everything as far as the velocity and maintaining his stuff is," Scioscia said. "At times location hasn't been quite as crisp as it was at the beginning, and I think he's sensitive to location. But he's still pitching very well."
And, yet, his team is not winning. Asked where his level of discouragement stood after his 13th loss of the season, Shoemaker acknowledged frustration.
"You could argue it's very high," Shoemaker said. "But I'm going out every game fighting for this team. I'm trying to get us a win."
