Suarez delivers a gem, Angels rally for victory
Angels pitcher Jose Suarez saved his best for last.
Suarez lost a perfect game bid in the seventh inning Saturday against the Texas Rangers, quickly surrendered the lead, then watched his teammates rally for a 3-2 victory before an announced crowd of 32,472 at Angel Stadium.
Suarez did not walk a batter and struck out six in his 20th and final start of the 2022 season. The Venezuelan left-hander pitched with a 1-0 lead for most of the night.
Jo Adell doubled in the second inning and scored on an RBI single by Kurt Suzuki, who was getting his final start at home in what will be his final season.
Almost as soon as his perfect game bid unraveled, Suarez was in line for the loss after allowing a two-run home run to Nathaniel Lowe. The Angels got both runs back in the bottom of the seventh inning against reliever Jonathan Hernandez (2-3).
The Angels were trailing 2-1 when Hernandez inherited a first-and-second, no-out jam from Jesus Tinoco. Livan Soto, who had bunted for a single earlier in the game, smacked a double into right field to score David Fletcher. Suzuki tried to score from first base on Soto's double as well, but was tagged out.
Soto advanced to third base on the throw home, then tried to score when the next batter, Matt
Thaiss, tapped a ground ball to Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien. Although Semien threw home quickly, Soto was able to elude the tag from catcher Jonah Heim and score the go-ahead run.
That left Suarez in line for the victory, giving him an 8-8 record for the second consecutive season. He finishes the year with a 3.96 ERA and a career high in innings pitched (109).
Zack Weiss and Ryan Tepera each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the win.
Shohei Ohtani singled in his final at-bat of the game to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.
The Angels (72-86) are 5-0 on their final homestand of 2022 with only this afternoon's game against the Rangers to go.