Facing no-no, Adell, Halos stun Snell in 7th

SAN DIEGO -- It was quite the seventh inning for the Angels. Not only did it end lefty Blake Snell's bid for a perfect game, it also gave them the lead in an eventual 4-0 win in the series opener on Tuesday night at Petco Park.

Jo Adell proved to be the hero with a two-out, two-run single with two strikes in the seventh on a slider from Snell that caught too much of the plate. Adell, who has been heating up at the plate and homered twice on Sunday, couldn't contain his emotions after the go-ahead single, as he celebrated wildly after reaching first base. It capped an inning for the Angels that saw them draw two walks against Snell, steal two bases and make him throw 34 pitches.

"There were so many good things that happened," Angels manager Joe Maddon said. "That was one of the best played games we've had all year. It may have been the best."

Snell, who threw seven no-hit frames against the D-backs in his last start, entered the inning with a perfect game intact on 66 pitches, but the Angels made him work. David Fletcher led off with a five-pitch walk to end the perfect game, but Snell still had his no-hit bid alive.

Snell, though, was bothered by the walk and it started to unravel for him after that.

"Frustrated with the walk to Fletcher,” Snell said. “Need to do a better job of not walking people. But good job to them, taking a lot of pitches. They were swinging early on. In that last inning there they made it tough.”

Just four pitches later, Luis Rengifo attempted to reach on a bunt single and was originally ruled safe at first by umpire Alfonso Marquez, which would’ve ended the no-hitter on a controversial bunt. But after a review, it was evident that Snell tagged Rengifo before reaching first and he was ruled out.

"It was 0-0, so I don't care what anybody thought, it was the right thing to do," Maddon said. "We're here to win a baseball game. We're not here to pander to anybody. It was a great bunt and a great tag by Snell. It was good baseball all-around."

Fletcher then stole third with Phil Gosselin up, which forced the Padres to bring their infielders in. Gosselin struck out but made Snell throw nine pitches in the at-bat. And Jack Mayfield also had quite the battle with Snell, as he had several tough takes before walking on Snell’s eighth offering to put runners at the corners with two out.

“The at-bats by Gosselin and Mayfield, especially Mayfield's walk, led to the two-run single,” Maddon said. “That can never be overlooked.”

It brought Adell to the plate, but he quickly fell behind, 0-2, in the count, which excited the Padres fans in attendance. But Adell took a slider in the dirt and Mayfield stole second on the play to give the Angels two runners in scoring position. On the very next pitch, Adell walloped a slider just past shortstop Jake Cronenworth and into left-center field to score both runs. It wasn't a cheap hit either, as it had an exit velocity of 106.2 mph, per Statcast.

“It was pretty exciting,” Adell said. “Snell had really, really good stuff tonight. I went up there and tried to put something hard in play forward. I got a slider that hung up a little bit and I was able to do some damage. But I think I have to give credit all-around because we were passing info in the dugout and as the game went along, we started picking up on things.”

But the big hit couldn’t have happened without a strong pitching performance by the Angels, as lefty Packy Naughton threw five scoreless innings in his fourth career appearance. The rookie improved his ERA to 2.57 in 14 innings this year and was matched up with a top pitcher for a second straight start, as he last went up against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. But this time, the team came away with a victory, even though it was Jimmy Herget who got the win with two scoreless frames in relief.

“You go up against somebody like Snell, or my last time it was Cole, and you know that runs are going to be hard to come by,” said Naughton, who struck out five and allowed two hits and two walks. “But you have to stick to your game and as long as you do that, you’ll end up on the right side of things. When he throws up zeros, yeah, I'm paying attention to that, but it's not like I got out there and feel like I've got to throw up a zero. I'm just trying to pitch deep into the game and trying to give us a chance."