Heaney steps up: 'Gotta win every game'

ANAHEIM -- Through his first eight pitches, Angels lefty Andrew Heaney served up two homers and found himself facing an early three-run deficit.

But Heaney settled down from there, allowing three hits the rest of the way to get through 6 2/3 innings in a 4-3 win against the Rangers on Saturday at Angel Stadium. It was another solid start from Heaney, who has quietly been one of the better pitchers in the American League this year. Mike Trout got the big hit with a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth, helping keep the Angels 3 1/2 games back of the second-place Astros with seven games remaining.

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“We gotta win out,” Heaney said. “We gotta win every game, and that’s how everybody feels. That’s how you should feel all the time, but we got our backs against the wall, so we know we have to win.”

Heaney entered the game sixth in wins above replacement (1.8), according to FanGraphs, largely because of his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark. Heaney had allowed just four homers through 10 starts and 56 innings heading into Saturday. But he gave up a leadoff homer to Leody Taveras on the second pitch of the game and just six pitches later, he surrendered a two-run homer to Rougned Odor.

“They made it pretty obvious in the first inning they were hunting heaters,” Heaney said. “And I didn’t do a good job of locating a few of them early. Had to change up a little bit of how I pitched based on the way they were approaching the game. Once we did that, it definitely got the game moving a little bit quicker, getting some swings and misses and some early outs.”

Both blasts came on fastballs and Heaney began mixing in more breaking pitches and changeups the rest of the way to keep the Rangers off-balance. Of Heaney's 103 pitches, he threw 45 curveballs and 20 changeups compared to 38 four-seamers. He registered seven whiffs with the curve, six with the changeup and four with the fastball. Heaney said it was the best command of his curveball he’s had in a while.

“He started pitching a little bit differently,” manager Joe Maddon said. "They came out expecting a lot of fastballs and [they] got them and didn’t miss them. I couldn’t tell what the location was on those fastballs. But give [Heaney] credit. A lot of guys cave in those situations, but he did not.”

Heaney was removed after giving up a two-out single to Taveras in the seventh, coming on a 2-2 curveball. It robbed Heaney of reaching seven innings for the fourth time over his last five starts. But Noé Ramirez got out of the inning unscathed. Heaney struck out eight and walked one but was saddled with a no-decision and saw his ERA remain at 4.02 in 11 starts.

“You give up a number like that early, and your team is in a pennant race, and you don’t cave in,” Maddon said. “He reinvented the game on the fly. He went away from the predominant fastball usage. I thought the curveball was much better tonight. The changeup was really good. He made the adjustment. The game can get too quick and he slowed it down. I loved it. It’s something he can learn from going forward.”

Heaney was backed offensively by a strong showing from Shohei Ohtani, who was playing in his first game at designated hitter since Sept. 11 due to a prolonged slump. Ohtani crushed a solo homer off Lance Lynn in the second, then helped spark a two-run rally in the fifth with a leadoff single. He scored from first on a double by Taylor Ward, who eventually scored the tying run on a two-out RBI single by David Fletcher.

“The team has been playing well and there has been a good flow with the team,” Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt that flow. I was happy to contribute to a win.”