ARLINGTON, Texas — Ryan Johnson, who just a few weeks ago was pitching so poorly that he was sent to the minors, has suddenly become a part of an Angels rotation that is having a week to give the Angels hope for the future.
Johnson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and he finished by allowing one hit in seven innings in the Angels’ 3-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
It was the fourth time in five games on this trip that an Angels starter went at least six innings without allowing an earned run. Right-hander George Klassen, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and left-hander Reid Detmers had also done it.
The “worst” start of the week has been from the pitcher who has been their best starter. Right-hander Walbert Ureña gave up three runs in five innings in a loss on Wednesday.
“You see another guy go out there and and dominate and shove, and it gives you a little bit of motivation to go out there and keep it going,” Johnson said. “It also shows hitter weaknesses at times. What they are doing well. Kind of analyzing it and keep that momentum going.”
Johnson, a native of the Dallas area, got the victory in front of his friends and family with just enough support from the hitters. The Angels had 10 hits, including Zach Neto’s two doubles and a triple and two hits from Mike Trout, and the defense was flawless.
It added up to another encouraging performance for Johnson, who has made a dramatic turnaround. He was optioned to Triple-A on July 31, after back-to-back starts in which he allowed at least five runs. A few days later, though, the Angels traded José Soriano and he was back.
Since then, Johnson has a 1.69 ERA in four starts.
“He’s been trending up,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Stuff’s getting better. He’s getting more consistent. He’s believing in himself. I think tonight was just the culmination of him just believing in it, trusting in it, and obviously the stuff’s playing up. But when you throw with confidence, you tend to kind of keep getting better and better.”
The last three have coincided with the transition with the Angels pitching coaches. Since interim pitching coach Tim Leveque took over last week, one of the changes has been having the pitchers simplify their game plans, focusing on their strengths more than the hitters’ weaknesses.
In Johnson’s case, that has meant throwing more cutters and fewer sinkers. Up until recently, he was throwing the cutter slightly more often than the sinker. In his last two starts, he’s thrown 94 cutters and nine sinkers.
“I think it’s just a matter of enhancing what he does really well and and having him believe in it and trust it,” Suzuki said.
Suzuki pointed out that they aren’t abandoning the sinker. Although he only threw seven of them on Saturday, the average velocity was up from 92 mph to 94 mph.
“We’ve been looking at it and working on it and being able to throw the cutter to both sides of the plate really opens it up and makes it a much more effective pitch, and it’s playing really well,” Johnson said. “We’re still seeing opportunities for when the sinker can be good. I think we’re doing a good job of realizing those, and it’s gotten better as well.”
Johnson started out the game using all of his pitches, but as the game wore on, he leaned more and more on his cutter. His sweeper was also effective, generating seven whiffs on 14 swings.
Johnson retired the first six hitters of the game before hitting Jake Burger with a pitch. He then got a double play.
The Rangers didn’t get a hit until Cody Freeman led off the sixth with a clean line drive into left field. Two outs later, Johnson walked Corey Seager, facing his first jam of the game. He escaped when Wyatt Langford hit a dribbler in front of the mound, and Johnson threw him out at first.
After Johnson’s day ended, the Angels (52-78) closed it out with Michael Fulmer in the eighth and Ryan Watson in the ninth.
The offense was sparked by Neto and Trout, who had been in a 1-for-17 slump coming into the game.
In the first inning, Neto led off with a double and then Trout drove him in with a bloop single into center. Trout led off the sixth with a double, and then he scored on Moisés Ballesteros’ double off the fence in right-center. Ballesteros narrowly missed his first Angels’ homer.
Neto led off the eighth with a triple and he scored on a Vaughn Grissom single.
The defense also helped. Second baseman Christian Moore made a sliding stop, Neto made a couple good plays at shortstop, and the best play of the day came from third baseman Denzer Guzman, whose error allowed the winning run on Friday night.
Guzman was shading up the middle in the ninth inning when Seager hit a bouncer toward the line. Guzman went to his backhand and got the ball, then he made a quick throw to first without even planting his feet.
“That ninth inning, I feel like getting that first out was huge,” Suzuki said. “Overall in general, turning some double plays, making some nice plays in the outfield. All those type of things. It’s nice. The more we work on it and we get better at it, the consistency will come. That’s kind of the recipe for what you really want.”