Boxscore Breakdown #8: Soto Power – Angels 5, A’s 4

Geovany Soto picked a heck of a time to pull the Angels out of last place in the home run rankings. The veteran catcher took an 0-1 fastball from Sean Doolittle in the ninth Tuesday and drove it deep into the Oakland night sky, helping complete the Halos’ second come-from-behind victory in as many starts for Hector Santiago. The win not only pulled the team to .500 for the first time this season, it also locked in their first series victory of the year.

Things are looking up.

For the A’s, the loss couldn’t have come in a worse fashion. Just when you think they might have gotten their All-Star closer back and bested their one-run-game demons, they get pulled right back in.

Angels 5, A’s 4

Run Expectancy Rundown

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Soto saved the day, but it wouldn’t have been quite as momentous without two preceding events: 1) Albert Pujols driving in two in the eighth with his first extra-base hit of the year; and 2) C.J. Cron earning his first walk of the year just before Soto stepped to the plate. Kole Calhoun again had a strong night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and extending his hit streak to six games. Andrelton Simmons hit into yet another double play—that’s four in eight games.

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Note to self: Don’t throw Marcus Semien 2-2 fastballs down the middle. The young shortstop deposited two 2-2 offerings from Santiago deep into the seats, tallying the only extra-base hits of the day for the A’s. Josh Reddick had the team’s other two RBI, twice knocking in Billy Burns from third. The only other A’s player to reach even once was Danny Valencia.

Starting Pitcher Scores

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Hector Santiago’s 51 game score belies how well he pitched on Tuesday. Other than two regrettably piped fastballs to Semien and a leadoff walk to Burns, the southpaw was as dominant and efficient as he’s ever been for the Halos. His 7⅔-inning outing was the longest with the Angels, his fastball velocity stayed around 95 mph into the eighth, he never once went over 20 pitches in any inning. If this isn’t just a one-start blip, it could be huge.

Kendall Graveman picked up where Sonny Gray and every other starter the Angels have faced this season left off. He got a lot of ground balls—including a double play—which managed to severely limit the damage done despite missing few bats.

Bullpen Battle

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Mike Morin and Huston Street faced four batters and retired all of them. I’d call that a success. The A’s bullpen, meanwhile, surrendered four runs in three innings of work. Former quasi-Angel Ryan Madson gave up the first two, then came Doolittle and his piped 94-mph fastball.

Game Flow

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The Angels’ win expectancy dropped all the way down to 4 percent in the eighth. One heck of a comeback.

Halo Hero

Soto could start taking playing time away from Carlos Perez if he continues to hit so well. He’s 3-for-7 in his last two starts, with just one strikeout.