ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the first 16 games of the season, the Angels did not have a single blown save.
Then they did it four times in five innings on Tuesday night.
The Angels gave up leads in the ninth, 10th, 11th and 13th innings of a gut-wrenching 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Angels relievers inherited a 3-1 lead in the sixth and then retired all 11 hitters they faced, just one away from victory, when it got away. Closer Carlos Estévez gave up an infield single, a ground ball single and then a two-run triple to José Caballero, tying the score.
After that, the Angels pushed home their automatic runner in three of the next four innings, but they couldn’t stop the Rays.
Right-hander Carson Fulmer, who was pitching three days after throwing 63 pitches on Saturday, had worked a scoreless 12th and he was one out away from escaping the 13th with a victory.
He couldn’t get the final out, with the Richie Palacios singling into center field to knock in the tying run. After an intentional and an unintentional walk, Amed Rosario beat out an infield hit as the winning run scored.
Before the late bullpen fiasco, the story of the game for the Angels was José Soriano, who was in line for his first victory as a starter.
Soriano gave up one run in five innings, striking out six and walking five. He pushed through occasional control issues to get to 90 pitches for the first time since June 2, 2019, which was two Tommy John surgeries ago.
Soriano had been moved to the bullpen by the time he reached the majors in 2023, but this spring the Angels decided his 101 mph fastball and sharp breaking balls made for too good of an arsenal to waste in the bullpen.
He started in spring training, and his opportunity to start in the majors arrived last week, with Chase Silseth’s elbow injury. Soriano threw four innings on 72 pitches of a loss against the Rays last week at home.
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This time he was better. He didn’t give up a hit or a run until the fourth. By then the Angels had given him a three-run lead in the top of the inning, when Mickey Moniak hit a two-run homer and Logan O’Hoppe followed with a solo shot.
Soriano took the mound in the fifth with 66 pitches, leading 3-1. He struck out the first two hitters of the inning on nine pitches, and he only needed to get through the No. 9 hitter to finish his work for the night. Soriano walked him, though.
That brought Manager Ron Washington to the mound for a pep talk. The top of the Rays’ order – All-Stars Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena – were due for a third look at Soriano.
Soriano walked Diaz with his 84th pitch. He battled Arozarena to a full count, finally getting him looking at a knuckle curve that was called strike three. Soriano pumped his fist as he walked off the mound.
More to come on this story.