José Soriano, Angels honor Garret Anderson by shutting out red-hot Padres

ANAHEIM — Jo Adell promised the Angels would perform with the same focused approach Garret Anderson used in his playing days.

By the time Adell delivered his two-run double in the fourth inning, one that inspired a twirling fist pump, the Angels were well on their way to an 8-0 victory on Friday night while ending the San Diego Padres’ eight-game winning streak.

Yoán Moncada started the scoring with a home run in the second inning and José Soriano continued his dominant start to the season by allowing two hits over 5⅔ scoreless innings.

The overpowering evening came with a massive “GA” stenciled into the grass in center field as a remembrance of the longtime Angels outfielder in Anderson, who died at 53 on Thursday.

“We’re gonna go out there and wear his patch and continue to go and do what we do,” Adell said before the game of the team’s ‘GA’ logo on the shoulder of each jersey. “Play the game that we love and that we know that he loved and his family embraced. Just to keep him in our thoughts and prayers.”

The emotional day started with a pregame tribute to Anderson on the videoboard, as players from both teams stood along opposing foul lines. A moment of silence from the capacity crowd followed.

After completing a seven-game road trip in New York on Thursday, followed by the flight home, when most members of the traveling party learned of Anderson’s death, the Angels had plenty left for one of baseball’s hottest teams.

A promising split during a four-game series against the Yankees served as its own momentum-builder. Better performances out of the bullpen could have led to a sweep instead of a split.

The Angels (11-10) averaged eight runs per game in the series in the Bronx and continued that trend in the opener of a six-game homestand that also will include a visit from the reigning American League champion Toronto Blue Jays.

“The bats have been incredible, grinding the at-bats out and even the outs we make, you’re making the pitcher throw six pitches, eight pitches,” Manager Kurt Suzuki said. “But I think it’s just consistency. Nobody’s trying to do too much. Obviously there are homers, but we’re keeping the line moving.”

In addition to Moncada’s home run in the second inning, his third of the season and second in three games, Adam Frazier had an RBI double and Zach Neto added a run-scoring single in the frame.

The Angels put up three more runs in the fourth, with the first coming on a Nolan Schanuel RBI single that knocked Padres right-hander Matt Waldron from his season debut. Adell’s two-run double came on the sixth pitch from right-hander David Morgan.

“I think it was a little bit of everything,” Adell said when asked about his expression of emotion after reaching second base. “Today we went through something pretty tough as an organization with GA. Coming out of the (videoboard memorial) before the game, everybody was fired up to really pay tribute.”

The Angels were far from finished, getting a two-run home run from Josh Lowe in the fifth, his third of the season. Nolan Schanuel had three hits after going 4 for 25 on the seven-game trip.

The bats retained plenty of heat while in a cargo hold during the flight from the East Coast.

“We could easily just put our heads down and get beat (at New York), but we got a good, tight group in there,” said center fielder Mike Trout, who hit five home runs in the series against the Yankees. “… Everybody’s got a purpose and we’re having team at-bats. It’s fun to be in the lineup and to see that one through nine (are contributing).

“There’s not one guy that’s taking their own at-bats, we’re taking team at-bats. That’s what winning ball clubs do.”

As good as the offense has been of late, Soriano has been even better. While improving to 5-0, and becoming the first American League pitcher with five wins, Soriano also lowered his ERA to a tidy 0.28.

“I think mentally I’m stronger and physically too, I feel stronger,” Soriano said when asked to compare himself with how he has felt the past two seasons as a starter. “I’m learning a lot from the past. I’m taking the good things and trying to use them right now. I think that’s part of the good results I’m having now.”

The lone run Soriano allowed this season came April 6 against the Atlanta Braves, when he went a season-best eight innings and had 10 strikeouts. Friday’s outing was his shortest of the season and ended after 99 pitches.

Soriano matched a season high with four walks and had eight strikeouts.

The bullpen even found some redemption after two late stumbles in New York. Chase Silseth got Soriano out of a sixth-inning jam by getting Gavin Sheets to fly out to the wall in right.

Shaun Anderson followed with two scoreless innings, without allowing a hit, and Jordan Romano pitched a scoreless ninth after two blown save opportunities against the Yankees. The Angels handed the Padres (13-7) their first shutout of the season.

“There were a couple of tough ones in New York for sure and I didn’t feel like myself out there,” Romano said. “Getting in there tonight, making pitches, feeling good, is definitely big.”