LATIMES.COM/SPORTS TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019D5
BASEBALL
CINCINNATI — An An-
gels starting rotation that
has been in flux all season —
and even more so in the wake
of Tyler Skaggs’death July 1
— might finally get a lifeline.
Left-handed starter An-
drew Heaneyis expected to
pitch during the weekend se-
ries in Boston.
“We obviously have to see
how tomorrow feels, to see if
everything is good, but
that’s my plan,” he said.
Heaney was encouraged
by his 64-pitch performance
in a simulated game at Great
American Ball Park on Mon-
day. None of his offerings
caused discomfort in the in-
flamed left shoulder that
landed him on the injured
list July 20. Command did
not elude him.
“His stuff looked really
good, especially the first in-
ning he threw,” manager
Brad Ausmus said.
Heaney’s return will not
save the Angels’ battered ro-
tation. Felix Penasustained
a season-ending knee injury
Saturday, and rookieGriffin
Canning was placed on the
injured list because of elbow
soreness Sunday.
But Heaney should pro-
vide some stability. When
healthy, he has proved him-
self capable of anchoring a
rotation. He was a mainstay
last year, leading the Angels
with 180 innings and making
a career-best 30 starts.The Angels have lost nine
of 11 following Monday’s 7-4
defeat at Cincinnati, dwin-
dling their slim postseason
chances. They are nine
games out of wild-card con-
tention and 17^1 ⁄ 2 games be-
hind the first-place Houston
Astros in the division with
only 48 games left. A playoff
berth is likely to escape
them for a fifth consecutive
year.
At this point, the Angels
need innings. And Heaney is
the best option for the task.Short hops
Right-handed reliever
Luke Bard was placed on
the injured list after taking a
comebacker to his right tri-
ceps in Sunday’s loss. He
could not fully extend his
arm Monday but wasn’t wor-
ried about long-term effects
of being hit above the elbow.
... Canning will stop throw-
ing until the minor soreness
in his elbow clears. Ausmus
does not expect the 23-year-
old to be down for long. ...
Pena, who will undergo
surgery to repair the torn an-
terior cruciate ligament in
his right knee once swelling
subsides, was transferred to
the 60-day injured list to
make room for Mission Viejo
native Patrick Sandoval on
the 40-man roster. The left-
handed Sandoval pitched in
Monday’s game against the
Reds after Taylor Cole
opened. It was planned that
Sandoval would pitch before
Pena got hurt.ANGELS REPORTHeaney is likely
to face Red Sox
By Maria Torresing],” manager Brad Aus-
mus said. “He should be
happy with the way he
pitched.”
But the Angels failed to
shake off an early deficit, suf-
fering their fifth consecutive
loss and ninth in 11 games
with a 7-4 defeat.
Sandoval reveled any-
way.
He grew up in Orange
County and attended games
at Angel Stadium before the
Houston Astros drafted him
as a teenager in 2015. When
the Angels acquired him last
July for catcher Martin Mal-
donado, he was so excited
about the possibility of
playing for his hometown
team that he published an
image on social media of
himself pitching in an Angels
uniform as an 8-year-old.
Now Sandoval, 22, will be
able to update that Insta-
gram post.
“It was unbelievable,
something I could never
imagine,” he said, a few min-
utes after taking photos on
the field with about a dozen
family members. “You
dream of that growing up. I
got to take the mound for my
hometown team.”
If not for such a calami-
tous beginning, Sandoval
might have had a chance to
leave his debut with a fonder
memory.
For the second time in
four games, the Angels
watched their usually reli-
able opener strategy go up in
flames. Taylor Cole (1-3) al-
lowed six of the first seven
batters he faced in the first
inning to reach base. Five
runs scored. Things went so
poorly for the Angels that
even Mike Trout wasn’t
immune; he failed to catch a
routine fly ball in center
field, extending Cole’s mis-
erable outing a few minutes
longer.
“This game is more men-
tal than anything,” said the
right-hander, who had given
up only one run in his last 14
innings before surrendering
four in one-third of an inning
as the opener in Friday’s 7-3
loss at Cleveland. “I think I
went out there with a pretty
good mental approach. Ob-
viously I didn’t minimize the
damage. That’s part of ma-
turity. I need to grow andlearn to keep it within a cou-
ple runs rather than turning
it into a five-run outing. I just
didn’t do the job.”
The futility of the Angels’
offense eliminated any pos-
sibility of a comeback.
Reds right-hander Luis
Castillo, one of the most ef-
fective starters in baseball
this season, picked apart the
Angels. His high-90s fastball
received 12 strike calls. His
biting changeup induced 18
swings and misses.
Castillo (11-4) struck out a
career-high 13 in seven in-
nings, underscoring a bigger
problem for the Angels.
They struck out nearly 24%
of the time while stumbling
last week, the 10th-highest
rate in that span. Before that
stretch, the Angels boasted
one of the lowest strikeout
rates in baseball.
Ausmus attributed theAngels’ struggles more to
opponents than their own
approach at the plate.
Limited to five hits —
Trout’s 37th homer, Luis
Rengifo’s fourth and Brian
Goodwin’s 10th accounted
for the damage — the Angels
(56-58) fell to two games be-
low .500 for the first time
since they were 38-40 on
June 22.
“Guys [go] through
stages of pressing at times
when they feel like they’re
not performing the way they
believe they should,” Aus-
mus said. “I can’t say there’s
not a guy here or there who’s
pressing. But I actually
thought our at-bats tonight
against a really good pitcher
were pretty good. Better at-
bats than we’ve had re-
cently. I thought that was a
plus because Castillo has
really good stuff, elite stuff.”Angels
lose 5th
straight
PINCH-HITTERShohei Ohtani strikes out to end the Angels’ 7-4 loss to the
Reds on Monday night. The Angels have fallen in nine of their last 11 games.Gary LandersAssociated Press[Angels,from D1]
Outside of Clayton Ker-
shaw, Hyun-Jin Ryuand
Walker Buehler, it seems al-
most every Dodgers pitcher
could find himself in the
bullpen in the postseason.
Rich Hill included.
The veteran left-hander
has been out since June 19
with a left forearm strain
that landed him on the 60-
day injured list. He wants to
be healthy enough by Octo-
ber to return to the starting
rotation. But the idea of be-
ing a reliever in the playoffs
has grown on him too.
“Any way to help,” he
said. “Ideally starting. But it
all depends on how this is go-
ing to play out.”
With the regular season
dwindling, Hill’s rehab is be-
coming a race against the
calendar. He is still about
three weeks from throwing
bullpen sessions. By the
time he would be ready for a
routine rehab assignment in
early to mid-September, the
minor league season will be
winding down, if not over.
He’ll be put through live bat-
ting practice, simulated
games and perhaps late-
September games. But, Hill
acknowledged, building up
enough stamina to pitch
four innings in a game —
likely a requisite to start in
the postseason — will force
him to push his recovery,
which he said is a little ahead
of schedule but still far from
complete.
Manager Dave Roberts
said the team will see how
healthy Hill is near the end of
September before making a
final assessment on his role
in the playoffs. Of Hill’s 12 ca-
reer postseason appear-
ances, in which he has a 3.04
ERA, he came out of the
bullpen only once, tossing
the final inning of Los Ange-
les’ loss in Game 6 of last
year’s National League
Championship Series.
Hill, 39, has a 2.55 ERA in
10 starts this year, the final of
his contract.
“He just wants to come
back and contribute,” Rob-
erts said. “With what he’s
done for us in postseasons in
years past, you know he can
be a big-time contributor.”Verdugo, Pollock sit
Alex Verdugo was
scratched from Monday’s
lineup against St. Louis be-cause of back tightness. Ver-
dugo was slated to start in
center field, but his back
“didn’t loosen up the way we
wanted it to,” according to
Roberts.
Back tightness has been
a nagging issue for Verdugo.
The rookie, who is hitting
.294 with an .817 on-base-
plus-slugging percentage,
hasn’t landed on the injured
list this year but has been
given the occasional day off.
Roberts didn’t expect this
flare-up to lead to the in-
jured list either.
“I definitely don’t think
it’s severe,” Roberts said.
“Where we’re at, to think
about putting him in jeopar-
dy at all, to make it a longer
issue, we’re just trying to
guard against that.”
A.J. Pollock also was ab-
sent from Monday’s lineup
as he continues to nurse a
minor groin issue. Pollock
strained his groin Thursday,
didn’t play Friday or Sat-
urday, then recorded two
hits and two RBIs in Sun-
day’s win over San Diego.
Pollock will be reevaluated
before Tuesday’s game.Ruiz breaks finger
Dodgers catching
prospect Keibert Ruizsuf-
fered a broken finger that
likely will end his season, ac-
cording to a person with
knowledge of the situation.
Ruiz, the No. 3 prospect in
the Dodgers’ farm system
according to MLB.com, was
placed on the seven-day in-
jured list in triple-A Okla-
homa City on Monday.DODGERS REPORTHill could be
bullpen arm
in playoffs
By Jack HarrisRICH HILLhas been
out since June 19 after
exiting with an injury.Mark J. TerrillAssociated Presscarried a no-hitter for 4^2 ⁄ 3 in-
nings. Kolten Wong spoiled
the bid with a double in the
fifth. He was one of three
baserunners the Cardinals
mustered against Gonsolin,
who peppered the strike
zone and tallied first-pitch
strikes to 12 of the final 17
batters he faced.
Since giving up four runs
in the first inning of his big
league career, Gonsolin has
limited teams to three runs
(two earned) in 13 innings.
“I’ve learned to just trust
my stuff,” said Gonsolin (1-1),
who recorded a four-inning
save in Colorado. “I feel like
learning that I can compete
here whenever I get the op-
portunity, whether it’s start-
ing or out of the ’pen, I think
that’s a great experience for
me and great to know.”
The last time these clubs
met, Gonsolin was one start
into his triple-A career and
the Cardinals completed a
four-game sweep in St. Lou-
is. It was early April. The
Dodgers emerged from the
trouncing 8-6. They have
since gone 67-34 and opened
a season-high 18-game lead
in the National League West,
solidifying themselves as the
NL’s team to beat. The Car-
dinals have since gone 50-48.
They are clawing for a play-
off berth. The disparity was
evident Monday.
“I’ll take our chances
against anybody,” Roberts
said. “I don’t think that any
team is a barometer for us. I
think we kind of set the bar.”
Despite their struggles at
St. Louis, the Dodgers
banged right-hander Mi-
chael Wacha when they had
the chance, chasing him af-
ter he gave up seven runs in
32 ⁄ 3 innings. The theme con-
tinued Monday in Wacha’s
first start since July 4.
Joc Pederson led off with
a single and Max Muncy
walked. Two batters later,
Wacha tried sneaking a fast-
ball past Cody Bellinger. Thepitch ran over the plate and
Bellinger leveled it. The ball
landed 419 feet away down
the right-field line. Bellinger
monitored it as it soared,
slowly walking out of the bat-
ter’s box unsure whether it
was going to land fair before
beginning his 37th trot
around the bases. Only
Christian Yelich has clubbed
more home runs this season.
Los Angeles stretched
the lead in the third inning
on Corey Seager’s ground-
rule RBI double and again
on Pederson’s solo home run
in the fourth. Pederson’s ho-
mer — on a curveball with
two outs and two strikes —
was his first since July 21. It
was his second hit of the
night after going one for his
previous 25.
Wacha’s final act was is-
suing another walk to
Muncy. He left after 3^2 ⁄ 3 in-
nings trailing 5-0. Justin
Turner welcomed left-
hander Adalberto Mejia
with an RBI double.Matt Beaty delivered a
two-run double before Gon-
solin took the mound to
complete his performance.
He surrendered a single to
Dexter Fowler, prompting a
mound visit by catcher Will
Smith as J.T. Chargois
warmed in the bullpen. Paul
Goldschmidt was at the
plate. Gonsolin already was
past his previous season
high of 77 pitches. Gold-
schmidt likely was his final
batter and he bore down.
Gonsolin began the clash
against the former most
valuable player candidate by
getting him to swing
through two pitches — a
slider out of the zone and a
splitter over the outer half.
He tried inducing a swing on
a slider off the plate, but
Goldschmidt did not bite.
There was no deceit with his
next pitch. He reared back
and fired a 95-mph fastball.
Goldschmidt whiffed and
Gonsolin strutted off the
field to rousing acclaim.CODY BELLINGERgets high-fives in the dugout following his three-run homer off St. Louis’ Michael Wacha
in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Bellinger has 37 home runs, two shy of the major league lead.
Myung J. ChunLos Angeles TimesCardinals no match for Dodgers
[Dodgers,from D1]