Soriano spins shutout as Angels blank Guardians in Trout's return

CLEVELAND -- Allowing just one run for the second straight game, the Los Angeles Angels' pitching staff led the way in a 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday evening at Progressive Field. The Angels are now 26-30 and 16-15 on the road.

Having lost five of their last six, Jose Soriano tossed six scoreless innings as he did his best to help the squad bring an end to their recent struggles. The right-hander made his 12th start of the season, allowing four hits and walking four as he struck out two. 

He allowed just a single hit through his first 4 2/3 innings, working plenty of ground ball outs in the process. Soriano finished with 14 ground ball outs total, earning three double plays during his start. The 26-year-old improved to 4-5 this season, lowering his ERA to 3.41.

At the plate, Jo Adell got the Angels on the board in the second inning with an RBI single to right off of Guardians' starter Luis Ortiz.

Ortiz did well keeping up with the pace of Soriano, matching his six innings and allowing just the run on Adell's single. The outfielder finished 3-4, delivering only his second three-hit game of the season and first since April 18.

Los Angeles held to their 1-0 lead until the seventh, where they tacked on a pair of runs thanks to singles from Nolan Schanuel and Jorge Soler. 

It was a nice display of two-out hitting for the Angels as they added on a big pair of insurance runs to give the bullpen some more breathing room. Out of the bullpen, it was Reid Detmers, Ryan Zeferjahn and Kenley Jansen who each dealt a frame to prevent a Cleveland rally.

Detmers and Zeferjahn each tossed scoreless innings, combining for three strikeouts. Before Jansen could come in to close it out in the ninth, Soler would drill a solo shot in the top of the frame to make it 4-0 Los Angeles.

Earning his 8th home run of the season, the slugger has now compiled multi-hit performances on back-to-back days and is back at a .230 batting average for the first time since May 11. He homered just three times in the month of May.

The Guardians finally got on the board in the ninth inning off Jansen as Nolan Jones knocked a two-out RBI single into right field. However, Jansen got Steven Kwan to fly out as he represented the tying run, sealing the victory for Los Angeles.

The victory snapped their five-game losing streak and marked an even bigger milestone, the return of Mike Trout. Hitting fifth as the DH, he finished 1-5 with a single in the fourth inning. Los Angeles will look to use his return to help them keep their momentum in the right direction and put together a strong road trip.

Game two of the series between the Angels and Guardians will take place on Saturday afternoon. Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.23 ERA) will toe the rubber for Los Angeles, taking on Cleveland right-hander Slade Cecconi (1-1, 3.27 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PT.