Rodriguez (7 K's) impresses in 1st MLB start

ARLINGTON -- Despite a 4-1 loss to the Rangers on Monday at Globe Life Field, Angels righty Chris Rodriguez’s first Major League start was as good as any in his fledgling professional career. His six-plus innings marked the deepest the 23-year-old had ever pitched, his 86 pitches were the most he’d ever thrown and his seven strikeouts matched a career high at any pro level.

Manager Joe Maddon said before Monday’s game that Rodriguez was not on a short leash, with a 90-pitch limit. Rodriguez met expectations in length and exceeded them in performance, making few mistake pitches as the Rangers collected only four hits off him.

“I thought he kept getting better [as the night wore on],” Maddon said.

Each of the Rangers’ top five hitters in the order struck out against Rodriguez as he amassed swings and misses, mostly with his sharp mid-90s sinker. Unaccustomed to facing hitters more than once or twice as a reliever, Rodriguez chewed through the top of the Rangers' order the third time he faced them. Any questions the Angels might've had about his stamina certainly didn’t present.

“Coming into this game, I wanted to go nine [innings],” said Rodriguez, the Halos’ fourth-round Draft pick in 2016. “I have that mindset. The fact that I went seven, it’s great, but I didn’t get out of the seventh. I’ve got to build off [this] and keep on getting better. The goal is nine innings -- to have a complete game and get a win.”

With the newly expanded volume of work, Rodriguez’s velocity was a tick lower than when he was coming out of the Angels’ bullpen in the first half of the season, not that his sinker seemed any less vexing to the Rangers’ hitters.

“You saw a lot of 94, 95, which I’ll take with that kind of movement,” Maddon said. “I do believe he’s going to be very confident after that start.”

The Halos gifted the Rangers the run that ultimately handed Rodriguez the loss, as Texas pulled off a double steal of second and home with two outs in the fifth inning. Had catcher Max Stassi held the ball instead of throwing to second, Rodriguez likely would have carried a 1-1 tie into the sixth, as he quickly struck out the next hitter, Nathaniel Lowe.

“We had a different sign on -- we got messed up on the field, that’s not what we wanted to do,” Maddon said.

Even after falling behind in that frustrating manner, Rodriguez breezed through a perfect 1-2-3 sixth, including two strikeouts of Jonah Heim and Andy Ibáñez.

“He really exudes a lot of self-confidence normally,” Maddon said. “He was very calm all day. I walked by him, there was no jitteriness about him. He went out there, he looked exactly the same [as when he was a reliever] to me. The difference was he got a chance to get into the flow of a game, and I thought he kept getting better, which I loved. A lot of good starters do the same thing.”