Angels hopeful Canning’s stellar start will be ‘stepping stone’

ANAHEIM — It was the sort of begin right-hander Griffin Canning had been ready for this season.

Canning turned in simply his greatest outing of the 12 months in opposition to the Red Sox on Tuesday, scattering two hits over a season-high seven scoreless innings to hold the Angels to a 4-0 win at Angel Stadium. Canning, who missed final season with a stress fracture in his decrease again, entered with a 6.14 ERA and had surrendered not less than three runs in every of his final 4 outings however turned it round in a giant approach together with his sturdy exhibiting.

“I think tonight is a big stepping stone for him,” mentioned supervisor Phil Nevin. “It’s finally like, ‘OK, here I am and I’m back and it’s been two years.’ And finally you get a good one under your belt and you can run with it.”

Canning combined up his pitches extra this outing, as he threw his curveball extra ceaselessly than typical. He had thrown his curve simply 10 % of the time this season and simply 5 occasions in his final outing, however he threw it for 17 of his 91 pitches in opposition to the Red Sox, which helped hold their hitters off-balance. Throwing extra curveballs was a part of the sport plan, particularly with Boston having seven lefties in its lineup.

“I think facing that many lefties, it was just something I was going to need to use a lot,” Canning mentioned. “Fortunately, I had a good feel for it tonight, so that’s why I went to it a lot. I pride myself on feeling the rhythm of the game and knowing what pitch to throw in certain situations.”

It was an encouraging signal for Canning, who improved to 3-2 with a 4.95 ERA in seven begins. The Angels have been seeing inconsistencies from starters exterior of Shohei Ohtani and Patrick Sandoval, so if Canning can get it going, it could be enormous for the rotation.

Nevin mentioned he expects Canning to proceed to range his pitch combine going ahead.

“He utilized all of his pitches, particularly the curveball,” Nevin mentioned. “We talked about it all week after his last outing. It’s a really good pitch for him and he kind of got away from it. He was able to land several. He was able to locate all his pitches and was really good.”

Canning didn’t run into a lot hassle, though he did stroll three batters by the primary 4 innings earlier than settling down. The Red Sox had only one at-bat in opposition to him with a runner in scoring place, which Canning dealt with by hanging out Reese McGuire with two runners on to finish the second.

He turned extra environment friendly as the sport went on, registering a slew of fast outs and retiring 16 of the ultimate 18 batters he confronted. After laboring by his first two innings, he threw 12 pitches within the third, 13 within the fourth, 9 within the fifth, 11 within the sixth and 5 within the seventh.

“As the game went on, you saw his confidence on his face every time he left the mound,” Nevin mentioned. “You just kind of sensed he felt really good throughout the night. I didn’t have anybody up until the sixth, but he got through it quickly. He was really efficient. If we had a few more runs, I probably would’ve left him out for the eighth.”

The solely two hits he gave up got here on a two-out single from Enmanuel Valdez within the second and a two-out single from Triston Casas within the seventh. Canning, although, remained within the recreation after the only from Casas and acquired Valdez to pop up in foul floor to get by seven innings for the primary time since Aug. 30, 2020, when he went eight in opposition to Seattle. It additionally marked the primary time he’d thrown seven scoreless innings since May 18, 2019, in opposition to the Royals.

“It had been a while,” Canning mentioned. “I think the injuries and stuff made me a better person and a better player. So I’m grateful that I went through it and got to this place, but it doesn’t stop here and [we’ll] just get back to work tomorrow.”

Canning was backed by a trio of homers from Mickey Moniak, Matt Thaiss and Mike Trout, with Trout tying Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio on the all-time AL/NL dwelling run checklist with a two-run blast within the eighth for his 361st profession homer.

“It means a lot,” Trout said. “Just to be there with the greats, it’s really special. Especially another center fielder.”