WEST SACRAMENTO — The setting could not have been more different, but the result was the same.
After the Angels swept a three-game series over the weekend at raucous Dodger Stadium, they headed north to play in the Triple-A park that is the temporary home of the Athletics.
The change of scenery notwithstanding, the Angels ran their winning streak to four with a 4-3 victory over the A’s on Monday night.
“I think we’re scoring more runs earlier on the game,” said Nolan Schanuel, who hit a first-inning homer. “Pitching is coming out, doing their thing, and it’s awesome to see and be a part of.”
Taylor Ward gave the Angels a two-run lead with a two-run homer in the third, and the pitchers did the rest. Starter José Soriano went six, and relievers Ryan Zeferjahn, Hector Neris and Kenley Jansen finished.
The winning streak equals the longest of the season for the Angels (21-25).
Soriano gave up three runs in his third quality start in his last four outings. Soriano did a nice job of keeping the ball on the ground — he got 11 outs on 10 ground balls — but his control wasn’t sharp, and that led to some trouble.
In the first inning, Soriano loaded the bases with no outs on a ground ball single, a walk and a hit batter. One run scored on a double play — the major league leading 13th of the season induced by Soriano — and another scored on an infield hit.
Soriano worked himself into another bases-loaded jam in the third, with two of his four walks. He escaped unscathed by striking out both Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz.
In the sixth, Soriano faced dangerous A’s leadoff hitter Lawrence Butler, with two on and two outs. Soriano got Butler on a dribbler in front of the plate with his 100th pitch of the night. It was reminiscent of last week’s start, when manager Ron Washington pushed Soriano to get the final out in the seventh on a career-high 107 pitches.
“He’s got the stuff to stay in those type of games, and he did tonight,” Washington said. “And it’s a growing moment for him, because not every time he’s going to go out there and he’s going to be able to have his A game. It wasn’t his B game tonight, but he fought, he made pitches when he had to in certain situations. And you know, it’s a growing time for him.”
Zeferjahn, who had struggled against the Padres and Dodgers last week, worked around a walk and a hit batter in the seventh. Neris worked a perfect eighth. Jansen then worked around a two-out single to convert his ninth save in nine attempts.
There was little margin for error because the offense couldn’t produce much after their early outburst.
Schanuel hit a homer in the first inning, his first since April 13 and third of the season, and then he doubled in each of his next two trips. All three balls were hit at over 100 mph, marking the first time in Schanuel’s young career that he’s done that three times in one game.
Schanuel is now hitting .373 with a .977 OPS in his last 61 plate appearances, dating back to May 3.
Schanuel said hitting coaches Johnny Washington, Tim Laker and Jayson Nix have helped change his approach by giving him more information on which pitches he can hit the hardest, so he’s going to the plate looking for those specifically.
“If it’s a strike and it’s not in my zone, I’ll let it go and hopefully get another one,” Schanuel said. “A lot of props to all the guys, J-Wash, Nixy and Laker, kind of picking my zones early, and just sticking to that. It’s been working.”
Ward put the Angels up 4-2 with a two-run homer in the third inning, his team-leading 13th homer of the season.
Ward began to turn his season around when the Angels had him take extra live batting practice against Angels minor league pitchers earlier this month. He’s now hitting .250 with seven homers and a 1.002 OPS in his last 58 plate appearances.
“He’s swinging the bat extremely well,” Ron Washington said. “When they’re making a mistake with pitches right now he’s not missing, and my man made a mistake right there. And he didn’t miss it. And we needed it, because that was the difference in the ball game.”