Sports
Michael Lorenzen dials in for Angels debut in win over Marlins
Michael Lorenzen was not overcome with emotion when he took the Angel Stadium mound for his homecoming recreation Monday evening, nevertheless it was positively a distinct sensation than he felt in any of his earlier 295 large league appearances.
Not solely was the Orange County native and former Cal State Fullerton standout making his debut for the crew he grew up rooting for, he was doing in order a starter after spending the final six seasons as a Cincinnati Reds reliever, with greater than a dozen relations and associates watching from a dugout suite.
“I bear in mind pondering I’m by no means gonna get this chance to make my first begin for my hometown crew in entrance of my household and associates, so simply go for it,” Lorenzen mentioned. “I informed myself to assault, assault, assault … and fortunately, it labored out. It was a blast. It’s a dream come true, for certain.”
Lorenzen wasn’t simply efficient in a 6-2 victory over the Miami Marlins, he was dominant, giving up one run and two hits in six innings, putting out seven and strolling none earlier than a crowd of 20,480.
The 30-year-old right-hander retired the facet so as 4 instances and made one mistake, a 90-mph cut-fastball that Jesus Sanchez drove 439 ft for a solo dwelling run to middle area within the fourth.
Catcher Max Stassi didn’t have sufficient fingers on his proper hand for Lorenzen’s six-pitch repertoire — a heavy sinking 94-mph two-seam fastball, 95-mph four-seam fastball, 83-mph slider, 86-mph changeup, 91-mph cutter and an 81-mph curve.
Lorenzen maintained his stuff at some stage in his 89-pitch, 58-strike effort, exhibiting precisely why the Angels imagine he could make a profitable transition from the bullpen to the rotation.
“Excellent,” Angels supervisor Joe Maddon mentioned. “I’ve seen him loads within the Nationwide League, and I’ve by no means seen him begin like that. By no means seen him dominate like that. He had the onerous sinker working. … Man, that bowling-ball sinker performs on a regular basis. These hitters don’t like that in any respect. No walks, seven punch. That’s an important first day out.”
The Angels performed with out middle fielder Mike Trout, who was scratched due to the identical abdomen bug that sidelined him for 2 of the three exhibition video games final week. Trout mentioned he was feeling higher after the sport and hoped to play Tuesday.
Brandon Marsh moved from left area to middle, and Jo Adell, who went hitless in 9 at-bats with seven strikeouts in opposition to the Astros, exhibiting an excessive vulnerability to breaking balls off the plate, moved into the lineup because the left fielder. Each kids delivered large hits.
Marsh adopted Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff single and Stassi’s two-out stroll within the first by driving a first-pitch fastball from Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernandez 423 ft over the wall in middle for a three-run homer.
Adell pushed the result in 4-0 within the second when he crushed a 90-mph fastball from Hernandez for a solo homer to right-center, the ball leaving his bat at 109.7 mph and touring 430 ft. Marsh and Adell every added RBI doubles within the eighth to make it 6-1.
“They’re very gifted, there’s no query,” Maddon mentioned of Marsh and Adell. “You set your scout’s cap on, and my goodness, that’s precisely what you’re in search of. Physique, pace, energy, operating capacity … all the things. They’re gonna get settled in. However they’re going to be actually good main leaguers for a very long time.
“They’re supplying you with flashes proper now. We have to get their ft on the bottom to the purpose the place they will compete in actually tight video games and significant instances of the yr, that they will do issues like tonight. That needs to be nurtured. I don’t count on it in a single day. You don’t flip battleships on a dime.”
Lorenzen appreciated spending the majority of his begin with a four-run cushion.
“That makes it simple for me to assault the zone immediately,” he Lorenzen mentioned. “After we’re up by three and I quit a solo homer, I quit a solo homer. It doesn’t matter, which I ended up doing, and due to the run help, it didn’t faze me one bit. So kudos to the younger guys. They carried us as we speak.”
Left-hander Aaron Loup changed Lorenzen and retired the facet so as on seven pitches within the seventh.
Proper-hander Ryan Tepera struck out the facet — all on 86-mph sliders — within the eighth, and nearer Raisel Iglesias gave up a solo homer to Sanchez within the ninth.
Angels shortstop David Fletcher left the sport within the seventh inning due to left hip tightness, the identical damage that slowed him final week.