ARLINGTON, Texas — José Soriano showed no ill affects of what had been a hectic week.
Soriano did not allow a run in the Angels’ 4-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night, despite flights to and from the Dominican Republic for the birth of his son, followed by a flight to Texas.
Although Soriano didn’t get his normal work or sleep in the time between his starts, he blanked the Rangers over 5⅔ innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six.
In his previous start, on Aug. 17 in Sacramento, he gave up three home runs for the first time in his career. That was a rare event for a ground-ball specialist.
On Monday, he was back to his normal routine, getting eight outs on six ground balls. The two double plays increased his major-league leading total to 27. No one else has more than 18.
Soriano couldn’t quite make it through the sixth. Interim manager Ray Montgomery pulled him with two on and two outs and Rangers star left-handed hitter Corey Seager due. Left-hander Reid Detmers entered to strike out Seager.
Detmers picked up the first two outs of the seventh and then right-hander Luis Garcia finished the inning. Left-hander Brock Burke pitched the eighth.
Kenley Jansen worked the ninth, even though they had a four-run lead. Jansen had taken the loss in each of his two previous outings, pitching through a rib issue.
The pitching staff got the Angels (62-69) a victory even though their hitters are still not doing much. The Angels have scored just 16 runs in their last seven games.
On Monday they were facing Jacob deGrom, and looking for their third victory in three games against the two-time Cy Young Award winner this season.
Zach Neto put the Angels on the board on the first pitch of the game, blasting his 22nd homer of the season. It was Neto’s ninth of the season to lead off the first inning, extending his franchise record.
The Angels added a run in the fourth on Travis d’Arnaud’s two-out RBI single. D’Arnaud doubled to drive in a run in the sixth. It was the first time since July 9 that d’Arnaud had either multiple hits or multiple RBIs.
Logan O’Hoppe, who got the start at DH with Mike Trout out of the lineup, with a homer in the ninth to provide an insurance run. It was O’Hoppe’s 19th homer of the season, and first since July 21.
More to come on this story.