Heaney rolls with 'needed' confidence boost 

MINNEAPOLIS -- Angels lefty Andrew Heaney bounced back after a stretch of five straight rough starts, as he threw seven strong innings against the Twins in the series opener on Thursday.

Heaney, who had posted an 8.49 ERA over his previous five outings, gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in leading the Angels to a 3-2 win at Target Field. Heaney set a season high for innings and retired the last 11 batters he faced.

He said he had to use an interesting self-motivation technique in between innings to get himself back on track.

"It's hard to go through pitching the way I was before, obviously you start to look at things and question a lot of things, and lose confidence," Heaney said. "It can be difficult, so every time I came off the mound, I just kept telling myself, 'I'm a good [expletive] player.' And I had to keep doing that because sometimes you don't feel like that."

Heaney’s outing helped the Halos snap a three-game losing streak, as they had lost four out of five to the Mariners and A’s to open the second half of the season. The win could help the Angels avoid being sellers at the Trade Deadline, but if they do sell, Heaney could be a trade target himself, as he’s set to be a free agent after the season. But even with his solid showing against Minnesota, Heaney has a 5.32 ERA in 17 starts this year, limiting his trade value.

"This one is extremely nice not only for us to get a win, but for me to get a win and for me to pitch better [going forward]," Heaney said. "It's something I definitely want to build on and something for my confidence that, frankly, I needed to have."

Heaney scuffled a bit early, plunking a batter and walking another in the first, but he escaped that jam with three strikeouts. He also found himself in trouble in the second, surrendering a leadoff single to Trevor Larnach and a one-out double to Gilberto Celestino down the left-field line.

Larnach tried to score on Celestino’s double, but he was thrown out at home plate on a wild play that saw him collide with catcher Max Stassi. Celestino never tagged home and a dazed Stassi was able to tag him, even as Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons tried to grab Celestino near the plate. Stassi was shaken up, but he remained in the game after the play.

“He made the tag after, which was the right thing, but he was shaken up a bit,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I’m always concerned when a guy has a history [of concussions]. But he was fine.”

The two runs Heaney surrendered came in the fourth, when he gave up an RBI double to Willians Astudillo and an RBI groundout from Celestino. Third baseman Jack Mayfield might’ve had a play at the plate with a good throw, but he opted for the out at first base.

Mayfield made up for it with a go-ahead three-run homer off Kenta Maeda in the fifth that proved to be enough offense for Heaney.

"It was a perfect situation for him," Maddon said. "I've seen Maeda over the years and usually the lefties get him, but this year it's exactly the opposite. I felt really good about it."

Heaney got on a roll after Mayfield’s homer, as he was perfect in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. He went back out for the seventh despite being at 94 pitches, but he needed just eight pitches to record a 1-2-3 inning.

“I thought he kept getting better and that's why I wanted to stay with him,” Maddon said. “All of a sudden his fastball started to have a little more explosion to it. And his curveball was better, too, and he threw a couple of changes. But he pitched primarily with that fastball and, at the end, that thing jumped."

Heaney was relieved by Mike Mayers in the eighth and he was helped out by three strong defensive plays. Jorge Polanco smacked a liner into the right-center field gap, but Adam Eaton cut it off and threw Polanco out at second. Max Kepler followed with a ball hit to nearly the same spot, but didn't try for second when Eaton cut it off. Josh Donaldon then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

"Those were spectacular plays," Maddon said. "It really highlights the significance of a really good outfield defense. That's as good as I've seen with us all year. It's really big plays by Adam and, for me, he won the game for us tonight."