BOSTON -- It wasn't hard for manager Mike Scioscia to identify a silver lining of the Angels' 9-4 loss to the Red Sox on Friday night at Fenway Park. That moment occurred in the seventh inning, when veteran right-hander Huston Street returned to a Major League mound for the first time in 11 months.
Street looked impressive in his season debut for the Angels, pitching a scoreless inning on 11 pitches, with his fastball humming between 88-90 mph.
"Huston looked good," Scioscia said. "Out of everything that we want to take away from tonight, you've got to be happy with the way Huston threw the ball. Nice, easy velo and a good slider. Looked sharp."
It marked Street's first outing for the Angels since July 31, 2016. The 33-year-old missed the final two months of last season after undergoing knee surgery in August and then opened the 2017 season on the disabled list after suffering a lat strain during Spring Training. Street's rehab was delayed by minor shoulder and triceps issues, but he was activated off the 60-day disabled list on Thursday before drawing his first relief assignment against the Red Sox on Friday.
Street coaxed a lineout from Mookie Betts, a groundout from Dustin Pedroia and then struck out Xander Bogaerts looking to complete his spotless outing.
"It was good," Street said. "I felt really good. It's been a long road, obviously, this season. I've had a couple setbacks, but the last three weeks, the body has really started to feel locked in. The triceps thing was a pretty minor setback, but my stuff has been very sharp pretty much for the last four or five weeks."
The Angels had expected to have Street compete for their closing role this spring, but his injury derailed those plans. Though incumbent closer Bud Norris is currently on the 10-day disabled list with right knee inflammation, the Angels do not intend to immediately slide Street into the ninth in Norris' place. Scioscia has said that Street's role will be dictated by his performance, so he'll have to work his way back into a late-inning mix for the Halos.
Scioscia has shied away from declaring anyone the Angels' official closer, as he feels the club has a number of relievers who can hold leads and pitch in high-leverage situations, including David Hernandez, Cam Bedrosian, Richard Parker and Keynan Middleton.
"Our team is more of a matchup 'pen right now," Scioscia said. "So we have to just look for someone who is going to go out there and get outs in a certain inning."