TORONTO — That was the José Soriano the Angels got used to seeing in the first month of the season.
After Soriano had a pair of disappointing games, his performance in the Angels’ 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday was reminiscent of what earned him the American League Pitcher of the Month for April.
Soriano gave up a run on two hits in the first inning, and then he retired 20 in a row, lasting 7⅔ innings without giving up another run.
Through the end of April, Soriano was 5-1 with an 0.84 ERA, becoming the first Angels pitcher since 2014 to win the the league’s top monthly pitching award.
His last April start, however, was the one game he lost. He had a stiff neck before an April 28 loss to the Chicago White Sox. In his subsequent start, also against the White Sox, he said his neck was not an issue, but he nonetheless gave up five runs in four innings.
If those two games created any concern that Soriano was coming back to earth, he allayed them on Sunday.
The only run he allowed was in the first inning, and it wasn’t entirely his fault.
Shortstop Zach Neto was too slow making the throw to first on what should have been a routine out, and speedy Daulton Varsho ended up with an infield hit. So instead of a 1-2-3 inning, Soriano gave up a two-out, run-scoring double to Kazuma Okamoto. He needed 14 extra pitches to get out of the inning.
Soriano didn’t give up anything until the Blue Jays got him for three singles in the eighth, including two infield singles. Right-hander Sam Bachman retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a grounder, leaving the bases loaded.
Right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn then pitched the ninth to seal the victory.
The Angels (16-25) finally got a lead for Soriano when the Blue Jays finally put a lefty on the mound, in the fifth.
The Blue Jays started the game with a right-handed opener, Spencer Miles. The assumption was that left-hander Eric Lauer would still pitch the bulk of the game, so the Angels started their right-handed heavy lineup anyway.
For the first four innings — three against Miles and one against right-hander Tommy Nance — the Angels did not score. They had only two hits.
In the fifth, though, they brought in Lauer, and it was as if a switch was flipped in the Angels dugout.
Nolan Schanuel, the only lefty in the Angels lineup, led off the inning with a walk. Oswald Peraza then hit his fifth homer of the season, putting the Angels up 2-1.
Peraza had a chance to make up for hitting a bouncer back to the mound when he had a chance to drive in a run in the second inning.
Two outs after his fifth-inning homer, the Angels were back at the top of the order. Neto doubled and Mike Trout walked. Both scored on Vaughn Grissom’s double, his second hit of the game.
Jo Adell provided some insurance with solo homers in the sixth and ninth innings, giving him six for the season.
More to come on this story.