ANAHEIM — The Angels finally got to see the Patrick Sandoval whose performance was so encouraging last year.
The left-hander gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings in the Angels’ 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night.
The Angels were two outs away from their first back-to-back shutouts since 2016 before Jimmy Herget allowed a run in the ninth. Raisel Iglesias then closed it out to give the Angels (11-7) a three-game winning streak, and move them to four games over .500 for the first time since they were 7-3 last April.
Besides Sandoval’s brilliance, the Angels got three RBIs from Mike Trout, who hit a home run, and a two-double game from Anthony Rendon.
They provided ample support for Sandoval, who won a spot in the rotation on the strength of a 3.62 ERA in 87 innings last season.
Through his first two starts of the season, though, he was not as good as his 0.00 ERA would suggest.
Sandoval made it through just four innings in each of the first two games because of issues with his command. He needed 71 and 85 pitches in those games to get just 12 outs. He also walked five in those eight innings and allowed unearned runs in each game.
This time he had no issues with his control or the Cleveland hitters.
Sandoval pounded the strike zone. He became the first Angels pitcher to finish seven innings this season, doing so with just 90 pitches. He threw 59 strikes, striking out nine and walking one.
Sandoval’s signature changeup was especially good. He threw it 31 times – the most of any of his pitches – and the Guardians whiffed on nine of their 17 swings at the pitch.
Sandoval allowed singles to Myles Straw in the third and Owen Miller in the seventh. Cleveland had just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position against Sandoval. He retired Amed Rosario on a groundout to end the third, stranding two.
A few moments later, Trout blasted a two-run homer to pad the lead to 3-0.
He also ripped an RBI double off the left-field fence in the fifth. He came up with runners to drive in because new leadoff man Taylor Ward singled in the third and No. 2 hitter Shohei Ohtani singled in the fifth. Trout also walked.
Trout has five homers this season, to go with a .347 average and a 1.234 OPS.
Rendon also showed signs of emerging from his early-season slump. Rendon doubled twice. Over the past three games, Rendon is 3 for 9 with four walks. He also made a sensational diving stop at third.
Rendon scored the Angels’ first run of the game when he doubled and then Brandon Marsh singled. Marsh, who had missed the two previous games with an illness, leads the team with 14 RBIs.
More to come on this story.