SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Angels couldn’t handle the San Francisco Giants’ scorching offense on Father’s Day at Oracle Park.
Sunday’s 13-6 result included an injury to third baseman Luis Rengifo in the fourth inning, as a sharp line drive struck his left wrist, giving him a contusion and causing him to exit the game.
“The X-ray didn't show anything, so day-to-day,” said manager Ron Washington postgame.
Both teams went deep in their bullpens, as the Giants (35-37) started rookie southpaw Erik Miller (1-2) and the Angels (28-43) gave young righty Ben Joyce (0-0) the first two innings for his first career major league start.
San Francisco exploded for a nine-run fourth inning, taking advantage of relievers José Suarez and Hunter Strickland to erase a 2-0 deficit and run away with the game.
In the fourth, Suarez couldn’t record a single out, allowing five earned runs on five baserunners. Strickland could hardly salvage the damage, retiring two Giants but allowing three earned runs and one unearned.
“The hard contact they made on me was on pitches out of the zone,” Suarez said.
Los Angeles would’ve liked to have had Rengifo at the hot corner during the latter half of San Francisco’s surge, as replacement Cole Tucker made a costly throwing error, allowing the Giants to extend the inning and score another run.
The Giants registered 16 hits from 10 different batters, plus designated hitter Jorge Soler and right fielder Austin Slater hit home runs. Pitcher Spencer Bivens — who was called up to the Giants on Sunday — retired nine Angels with four strikeouts in his major league debut.
San Francisco continued its slugfest in the later frames, scoring four additional runs following its fourth-inning barrage. Giants first baseman Trenton Brooks tallied his first career RBI in the eighth inning.
Center fielder Kevin Pillar and first baseman Nolan Schanuel contributed to the Halos’ early lead, both driving in one run in each of the first two innings. Schanuel homered off Bivens, sending the ball 410 feet to center field for his eighth big fly of the year.
The Angels led a solid rally in the ninth inning, scoring four runs off Giants fireballer Camilo Doval, but it was nowhere near enough.
“We just couldn't stop [the Giants], period, today,” Washington said. “Got to give them credit for swinging the bats. We brought everything that we had planned on using today out of the bullpen, and we just couldn't do anything with it.”
Bivens tallied his first MLB win for San Francisco, while Suarez was credited with the loss, increasing his ERA to 8.15 following the lackluster performance. Joyce stood out in his first start, striking out three hitters and holding the Giants scoreless in limited action.
“I thought [Joyce] did a tremendous job,” Washington said. “You can see his adrenaline getting ahead of him. When I went out there to talk to him, I just went out there to let him know to settle down, one pitch at a time.”
Despite the finale’s negative outcome, the Angels still take the series, their first since sweeping the San Diego Padres earlier in June. Sunday’s blowout defeat followed two narrow victories for the Halos in the Bay Area.
Los Angeles will head home for another interleague series against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers (42-29) following the six-game road trip where it finished 3-3. Right-hander José Soriano (4-5) will take the mound in the first bout for the Angels against rookie starter Carlos Rodriguez (0-1).
The Angels and Brewers will commence the three-game series at Angel Stadium on Monday at 6:38 p.m.