Andrew Heaney feels awfully comfortable on the mound in Anaheim – and the results reflect that.
Heaney pitched seven solid innings in another quality start
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In his last six starts at Angel Stadium, Heaney is 4-1 with a 0.88 ERA. Since April 27, his home ERA is second-best in the majors to Jon Lester (0.56 ERA).
”I like pitching here,” Heaney said. ”It’s a familiar place. Pitched the majority of my career here. It’s a good place to pitch when you have our defense and the way the field plays, especially when you get later in the game, later at night, it’s a good place to pitch.”
Heaney (4-5) allowed just one run and nine hits, and struck out four with no walks. The left-hander has gone at least seven innings in three of his last four starts.
The Angels got on the scoreboard with a two-run first inning, giving Heaney all the support he would need. Justin Upton drew a two-out walk and Albert Pujols doubled him in. Luis Valbuena singled in Pujols from second to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.
The Blue Jays had things going in the seventh when Devon Travis hit a run-scoring double to right field to pull Toronto within a run at 2-1. But with runners on first and second, Heaney struck out Justin Smoak and got Yangervis Solarte to fly out to left field. Heaney punctuated Upton’s catch in left field with a fist pump – and his night was done.
Upton also made a fantastic, leaping catch against the left-field fence to rob Russell Martin of a potential home run in the second inning, which proved to be critical in a tight game.
”I try to catch every ball,” Upton said. ”I just got a good jump on that. I got a pretty good read on where it was going to be so I ran to that spot, found out where the fence was and went up to catch it.”
It was early in the game, but it would be a big factor in the final result.
”We threw some hits up there, we just couldn’t get that big one,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. ”That was a big play with Upton catching Russ’ ball early in the game. You don’t realize at that time (it’s big). Marco (Estrada) did a great job. Heaney did a great job. It was one of those ballgames where a big hit could’ve made a difference.”
Estrada (4-7) had a fine start
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”To be honest with you, that first inning I had the sun right in my face, I don’t know what it was,” Estrada said. ”There was a little opening at the top part of the stadium. I had no idea where the ball was going. It was really hard to see. Once that went away, I started making better pitches. Just elevated a lot. A lot of fastballs today up in the zone. That’s a really good lineup over there. I’ve struggled against them. Good to give the guys some innings and keep them in the game, but just came up short.”
Cam Bedrosian threw a perfect eighth in relief, and Blake Parker pitched a perfect ninth to earn his ninth save.
”It’s been good to win and good to hold some leads and get a little momentum after a couple, I wouldn’t say bad outings, but a couple outings where I gave up some runs,” Parker said. ”I just wanted to stay aggressive and continue to throw quality strikes. It was a big win. The bullpen, in particular, would like to keep coming in and shutting it down and carry that on into the road trip.”
Asked about Upton’s leaping catch, Heaney said: ”It’s just what they do. It’s not abnormal. They do that all the time. You get numb to stuff that Simba (Andrelton Simmons) does over there. Valbuena has been playing great. We’ve got tons of guys who can make plays like that, so it’s great to have them behind me.”
RARE STRIKEOUT
Simmons struck out in the fourth inning, a rarity for the Angels shortstop. It was his first strikeout since May 18, a span of 90 plate appearances. It was the fourth-longest streak in club history.
SOMETHING TO IT
The Blue Jays have lost 13 of their 14 games against left-handed starters.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Danny Barnes (knee tendinitis) was placed on the 10-day disabled list. … OF Steve Pearce (left oblique strain) was activated from the 10-day disabled list. … INF Josh Donaldson (calf tightness) is rehabbing in Florida and not scheduled to return on the team’s road trip
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Angels: RHP Shohei Ohtani (elbow) stood in the batter’s box in the bullpen and watched pitches to work on his timing while he’s on the disabled list. He’s also running to stay in shape. He’s scheduled to have his elbow re-evaluated Thursday. … LHP Tyler Skaggs, who was scratched on the day of his scheduled start on Thursday with tightness in a hamstring, threw long toss and will throw a bullpen session on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: LHP Marcus Stroman (0-5, 7.71) is still looking for his first win of the season. It’s his first start since May 8, when he was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder fatigue.
Angels: RHP Jaime Barria (5-3, 3.57) is tied for the AL lead for rookies with wins. In his last start, he allowed a career-high six earned runs on six hits over four innings in a loss to Arizona.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs headed into training camp in late July content with a pair of veterans in Daniel Sorensen and Eric Berry as their starting safeties.
Now, there’s a good chance neither will start in their season opener Sunday.
Sorensen broke a bone in his lower leg during training camp and had surgery about a month ago, and is starting the season on injured reserve. Berry has been dealing with a heel injury that not only kept him out most of training camp but sidelined him during practice on Wednesday.
The exact nature of his injury hasn’t been disclosed, but Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder put a positive spin on it Wednesday by saying the five-time Pro Bowl selection is “getting better every day.”
“We’ll see if he can practice and we’ll just go from there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I want to see what he’s got, if and when he does that. But then I’ll make the decision, what I see there.”
Berry may be the only player on the entire Chiefs roster who could conceivably play without having practiced in a month. But even for him, Reid conceded, that would be asking a bit much, especially with the season opener coming on the road against Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers.
“If he doesn’t practice today
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So instead of having a pair of veteran starters in Sorensen and Berry, the Chiefs are poised to start Ron Parker — who was cut by the Falcons last week and re-signed with Kansas City over the weekend — and either Eric Murray or fourth-round draft pick Armani Watts.
Parker spent the past four seasons with the Chiefs before signing with Atlanta as a free agent, so he’s at least familiar with defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme. But he admitted it’s a challenge to get up to speed in such a compressed timeframe for a division rival.
“I’m just preparing myself like I do any other time. Whatever the coaches ask, whatever they need,” he said. “I feel like especially being in Bob’s system and knowing what’s going on, that’s going to maximize my abilities. That’s the good thing coming back to Kansas City.”
Parker played well his first three seasons with the Chiefs but appeared to take a step back last year, and that’s part of why he was released. He said a high ankle injury sustained in training camp played a part in that, and that he’s glad to begin a season healthy again.
He just hopes it will be with Berry by his side.
“I’ve been playing with Eric,” Parker said, “so I can just look over there and I don’t have to say a thing. We know what each other is doing. With the other guys, we have to communicate with each other, of course. But everything is coming together.”
Murray has appeared in 30 games over his first two seasons, starting twice
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It speaks volumes that Parker, who just rejoined the team, already has been peppered with questions by the rest of the young guys in the defensive backs room.
“It’s difficult,” he said, “but the trust those guys have in me, and the trust I have in those guys, everything will take care of itself. We’ll handle our business.”
NOTES: WR Byron Pringle, who hurt his hamstring in the Chiefs’ preseason finale and was put on IR, had an MRI exam that also revealed a hernia. Burkholder said the rookie underwent surgery Tuesday. “He has an extended recovery ahead of him, and in the meantime the hamstring will heal,” Burkholder said. … Burkholder said Sorensen continues to do rehab work in the pool, but it will be a couple more weeks before the Chiefs have a timetable for his return. “He’s where he’s supposed to be right now,” Burkholder said.
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