|
 The club announced that Garrett Richards has a torn ulnar
collateral ligament in his right elbow and likely will have
season-ending Tommy John surgery.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Richards said before the game. "You
can't help but feel like you're letting your teammates down and kind
of abandoning them in the middle of the season."
Richards left his last start Sunday after just 79 pitches because of
what the club said was dehydration. Later in the week the team said
it was "general fatigue." But an MRI Thursday showed a high-grade
tear in the UCL.
"This is a total shock, this was something that just surprised us
all," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We'll deal with it one
step at a time."
The first step Friday was using reliever Cory Rasmus in a starting
role. Rasmus was expected to be able to make about 50 pitches and
wound up making 45 before being knocked out of the game with one out
in the third inning.
The Rays got a three-run homer from Corey Dickerson as part of a
four-run first inning and a solo homer from Brad Miller -- one of
his four hits in the game -- in the third to take a 5-0 lead.
 Dickerson's home run not only jump-started the Rays, it ended an
0-for-23 slide and came on an 0-2 pitch.
"I was kind of analyzing the situation right there and thinking of
my weakness," Dickerson said of his 0-2 approach. "Just trying not
to swing at a bad pitch, a pitch I didn't think I could hit. Just
let my athletic ability and hand-eye coordination react.
"I felt great coming into today, basically just let all my other
at-bats go, mentally. All I wanted to do is have fun with my
teammates and be the old me. Not try to critique or change my swing.
Just go up there and be Corey."
That was plenty of support for starting pitcher Chris Archer, who
threw six scoreless innings, giving up five hits and two walks while
striking out six to earn his second victory of the season.
Archer got off to a rough start this season, losing his first four
starts. But he said he never felt he was too far away from pitching
to his capabilities.
"I never really felt too out of rhythm, because I always go back and
look, and one executed pitch here and there and the outcomes of the
games are a lot different," Archer said. "I've felt confident the
whole time. You're going to have ups and downs as part of the
season. It's part of making 33, 34 starts. Around the league, you
look, there's a lot of good pitchers who started off the month of
April slow, and now they're starting to pick it up."
The Angels' best chance came in the seventh inning with Archer out
of the game. They loaded the bases with two out against reliever
Steve Geltz, bringing Mike Trout to the plate.
Trout fell behind in the count 0-2 but worked a walk, driving in the
Angels' first run. Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in reliever
Erasmo Ramirez to face Albert Pujols, who hit Ramirez's first pitch
deep to right field, but was caught in front of the wall by Steven
Souza Jr. to end the threat.
[to top of second column] |
"You don't have a chance to think about who you're facing, you just
think about executing pitches," Ramirez said of Pujols. "I missed
location but it was the perfect spot for him to get a fly ball. I'm
just glad I got the out."
The Angels got an RBI single from Andrelton Simmons in the eighth to
make it 5-2, but could get no closer. Alex Colome pitched a
scoreless ninth inning for his seventh save.
The injury to Richards is the latest in a string of injuries to the
Angels' pitching staff that have decimated the club. Andrew Heaney,
the No. 2 pitcher coming out of spring training, made only one start
before an arm injury put him on the disabled list. Starter C.J.
Wilson has been out all season with shoulder tendinitis and
left-hander Tyler Skaggs hit a snag in his recovery from Tommy John
surgery.
Closer Huston Street is out with a strained oblique muscle.
On Friday, the club used five pitchers in relief of Rasmus, and they
combined to throw 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
"I don't know about guys stepping up but we're looking for and
hopefully we'll get some guys that just pitch to their potential,"
Scioscia said. "You can't ask any more out of a player, you can only
ask them what they're capable of doing. We feel we're going to be
able to at least weather the storm for now."
NOTES: The Angels called up RHP Javy Guerra from Triple-A Salt Lake
to replace RHP Garrett Richards on the roster. ... Angels LF Daniel
Nava was activated from the disabled list after being out since
April 16 with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. To make room on
the roster, the Angels optioned LF Rafael Ortega to Salt Lake.
Ortega hit .294 with eight runs scored in 14 games for the Angels.
... The Rays began the night having scored 56.7 percent of their
runs with two out -- the highest percentage in the majors. The major
league average is 37.6 percent. ... Rays OF Brandon Guyer was hit by
a pitch twice in the game and leads the majors in getting in that
category with nine. He led the American League last year, getting
hit 24 times. ... The start was delayed by 11 minutes because
scheduled home plate umpire Tom Hallion had to deal with a "personal
issue." Hallion was not available for the game, which was played
with three umpires.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
