Sandoval makes All-Star bid in 10-K gem

BALTIMORE -- Left-hander Patrick Sandoval continued his strong season with one of his better outings of the year against the Orioles on Saturday.

Sandoval set a season high with 10 strikeouts over 6 1/3 strong innings, but it wasn't enough in a 1-0 loss at Camden Yards. Sandoval allowed one run on five hits and two walks and fell to 3-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 14 starts this year. Sandoval's ERA ranks 11th among American Leaguers with at least 70 innings pitched this season and interim manager Phil Nevin believes Sandoval deserves consideration for the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium on July 19.

"He's a guy we can lean on each time out,” Nevin said. “Hopefully he gets some good news on Sunday. He deserves to pitch in the All-Star Game."

It marked the third time that Sandoval has struck out at least 10 batters -- and the first time since he set a career best with 13 strikeouts against the Twins on July 24, 2021. All 10 strikeouts were swinging, with six coming on changeups and four on sliders.

Sandoval threw 95 pitches and registered an impressive 20 swings and misses, including 10 with his changeup, nine with his slider and one with his fastball. The 20 swings and misses were tied for the most by Sandoval this year, matching his 20 against the Mets on June 12, when he struck out eight over six innings.

"I felt crisp,” Sandoval said. “For the most part my stuff was pretty much on. Being able to throw my pitches through the zone consistently is helpful. I was able to use both today and battle through some counts with them."

Sandoval bounced back from a tough outing against the Astros that saw him allow five runs in five innings, though he did strike out nine batters and recovered after a rough first two innings in that game. Outside of his start in Houston last week, he’s been on a solid run since the start of June, as he’s allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last six starts.

“His bullpen sessions this week were phenomenal,” Nevin said. “He had been working with [pitching coach Matt] Wise on tinkering some little things. It showed today. He landed a lot of his pitches."

Sandoval looked sharp from the start, striking out the first three batters he faced. He didn’t run into trouble until the fourth, when he allowed a one-out single to Ryan Mountcastle before bouncing a changeup for a wild pitch. It proved costly, as Anthony Santander singled home Mountcastle for the lone run scored against Sandoval.

Sandoval walked Adley Rutschman to put two runners on with one out, but he struck out Ramón Urías to get out of the jam. Sandoval was lifted in the seventh after he walked Rutschman to lead off the inning and got Urías to ground into a fielder’s choice. Lefty Aaron Loup was brought in and got out of the inning unscathed.

"I thought he pitched great," catcher Kurt Suzuki said of Sandoval. "He pitched ahead in the count, and even when he fell behind, he was able to get back with some quality pitches. He didn't throw it down the middle and mixed it up to keep them off-balance."

But it was the second straight game that saw the Angels waste a strong start in a losing effort. Fellow lefty Reid Detmers threw six scoreless on Friday, only to see the bullpen allow five runs, including closer Raisel Iglesias surrendering three runs in a 5-4 walk-off loss. It marked the first time since Sept. 22-24, 2010, that the Angels had their starters allow one run or fewer over six innings in back-to-back games only to lose both games.

The offense again had chances but couldn’t score, including having runners at second and third with one out in the second, having a first and third with one out in the sixth and stranding Luis Rengifo after he led off the seventh with a double. The Angels went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, including Suzuki lining out to left with Rengio at second base to end the game.

"There's no way around it right now, we're not playing good baseball,” Suzuki said. “We just need to come to the ballpark every day and keep trying to get better. There's a lot of talent in there. We just have to keep working."