Julio Teheran was on a rough 60-pitch limit on Wednesday in his Angels debut, but couldn’t finish the third inning in the Halos’ 7-6 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
Teheran walked a batter in each of the first two frames but stranded them both. He was pulled shortly after a pair of singles in the third inning, at 52 pitches. Ryan Buchter was greeted rudely in relief by Kyle Seager, whose three-run home run turned the game around.
It’s the fourth time in 12 games the Angels starting pitcher fail to complete the third inning. Unsurprisingly, they have lost all four. The Angels are 4-4 in their other eight games.
Asking this bullpen to get 19 (or 16) outs, especially on a recurring basis, is a recipe for disaster.
“We’re still trying to separate some of these guys,” Joe Maddon said after the game.
Teheran might eventually give the Angels rotation the stability they crave, but he’s not there yet. Maddon said Teheran will likely be stretched to 75 pitches in his next start.
More homers
The positive for the Angels was their offense. Who knew adding the best player in baseball back in the lineup would work so well?
Mike Trout homered twice in the second game of the series, including a three-run shot to pull the Angels within a run. He has an absurd 27 career home runs in 80 games at T-Mobile Park, including three in his first two games back off paternity leave.
David Fletcher also homered for a second consecutive night, and catcher Max Stassi hit his third home run in his last four starts behind the plate.
The Angels have scored at least five runs in eight straight games, but they’ve only won three of those. That tells the story of the early part of the season for the Halos.
Wednesday particulars
Home runs: Max Stassi (3), David Fletcher (2), Mike Trout 2 (4); Kyle Seager (2)
WP — Marco Gonzalez (2-1): 7 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 7 strikeouts
LP — Julio Teheran (0-1): 2⅔ IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Sv — Carl Edwards Jr. (1): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Angels close out their series against the Mariners with a matinee on Thursday (1:10 p.m. PT, Fox Sports West), with Dylan Bundy on the mound against Taijuan Walker for Seattle.