Andrew Heaney struggles in Angels' loss to White Sox

Angels starting pitcher Andrew Heaney delivers during the first inning.

Staff Writer

Published April 2, 2021 Updated April 3, 2021 7:33 AM PT

Mike Trout drew a walk. Albert Pujols was intentionally walked. And José Iglesias came to the plate with the tying and go-ahead runners on base and two outs in the eighth inning.

It felt like a gamble from Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa, giving a free pass to his old first baseman with his team clinging to a one-run lead. But it worked, with closer Liam Hendriks inducing a deep fly out to diffuse the Angels’ last true threat in an eventual 12-8 White Sox win Friday night at Angel Stadium.

It took a lot for the Angels (1-1) to even make it close in their second game of the season, rallying from what was once a 7-1 deficit with a three-run fourth inning (courtesy of a three-run homer by Pujols) and two-run fifth (when White Sox right fielder Adam Eaton missed a fly ball near the foul line, allowing two runs to score).

The eighth inning was their best chance to come all the way back, though, as the White Sox (1-1) piled on five runs in the top of the ninth to pull away.

Here are three other observations from Friday.

Heaney struggles in season debut

It all started so well for Andrew Heaney.

A strikeout of José Abreu to complete a 1-2-3 first inning. Back-to-back Ks of Yoan Moncada and Andrew Vaughn to begin the next. And a flyout from Yasmani Grandal to end the second on a 95.2 mph heater, Heaney’s hardest pitch in the regular season since 2019.

In his first start of 2021, a season in which he is hoping to finally break through as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, Heaney retired his first seven batters overall with ease.

He would get only two more outs the rest of the night.

In the third inning, Heaney gave up consecutive singles with one out, then a two-out walk to load the bases, then a back-breaking grand slam to Abreu — the ball vanishing into the glove of a fan in the first row of the right field seats, and Heaney’s auspicious beginning to the night right along with it.

The left-hander was removed after giving up another run in the third, leaving behind two runners who also later scored. His final line: three-plus innings, seven earned runs, five hits, two walks, four strikeouts.

“Tonight did not go well,” Heaney said. “I didn’t give us a chance to win.”

His biggest problem: He got away from his fastball, and failed to limit damage with his changeup and other breaking pitches.

During the first 2 ⅓ innings, Heaney recorded six of his seven outs with the fastball — his most trusted pitch, but also one he said this spring he has sometimes been too “stubborn” with, throwing it in situations where his off-speed offerings might be better.

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu high-fives Yermin Mercedes after hitting a grand slam.

But as the third inning unfolded, it was the changeup that undid Heaney’s start. Yermín Mercedes slapped one into center field for his first career hit. Nick Madrigal singled on another, dropping a line drive in front of Justin Upton in left. Heaney missed with two-straight changeups to walk Luis Robert and load the bases. Then, he left one over the middle of the plate that Abreu didn’t miss.

Manager Joe Maddon said Heaney made the decision himself to start using his softer pitches, and Heaney explained the change was partially because the White Sox are a good fastball hitting team. But he also acknowledged he “just got a little bit tentative” and that “I kind of backed myself into a corner.”

Heaney added: “I hadn’t really shown I could throw that slider for a strike, or down on the plate. So at that point, I’m kind of getting into just fastball-changeup territory. And probably in situations like that, I started leaning a little bit more towards the changeup when maybe I should have mixed [the fastball] in a little bit more.”

Rodriguez impresses in MLB debut

Chris Rodriguez walked down the bullpen stairs, heard his intro song boom through the speakers, and trotted to the mound for his first MLB appearance.

After that, the 22-year-old right-hander can’t remember many specifics.

“When I entered the game, I totally blacked out,” Rodriguez said — the same reaction he had from when Maddon told him earlier this week he had made the team. “It’s just me being focused. When I black out, I know it’s gonna be a great day.”

Indeed it was, as Rodriguez retired six of the nine batters he faced in a scoreless two-inning big-league debut. Needing only 27 pitches, he had three strikeouts and a sizzling maximum fastball velocity of 97.6 mph. He threw in three separate innings, going to and from the dugout twice as the Angels mounted their mid-game rally.

“That was special and powerful,” Maddon said. “To get that many outs on that few pitches, I think we learned a lesson there tonight.”

A fourth-round draft in 2016, Rodriguez was one of the Angels’ top starting pitching prospects before surprisingly landing an opening day bullpen spot this spring. Before Friday, he had pitched in only three minor-league games since the start of 2018 because of back injuries. But now, Maddon said he can envision a “Pandora’s box regarding how you can use him” in the future.

“It’s just one outing, I understand that, but you saw the stuff and you saw the makeup in his ability to not let it be too quick,” Maddon said. “That’s the part that was most impressive to me.”

Rodriguez succeeded mixing his hard two-seamer with a sharp slider, inducing three ground balls and throwing no more than four pitches in any single at-bat.

“I was happy I got more than one inning,” Rodriguez said. “Every time they told me to go out, I was extremely, extremely happy.”

And is the multi-inning role something Rodriguez feels comfortable with moving forward?

“I think I love every single role in the big leagues,” he said, smiling wide at the end of his first MLB night.

Ohtani shows power

Highlights from the Angels’ 12-8 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Friday.

After going the other way all spring, Shohei Ohtani has begun the regular season by pulling the ball — and Friday night, doing so with power.

In his first at-bat, Ohtani clobbered a line drive past Abreu at first base that had an exit velocity of 108 mph. Abreu was shockingly charged with an error — Maddon said the Angels will try to get the scoring decision amended — as Ohtani pulled into third base. He scored on Mike Trout’s infield single the next at-bat.

In the ninth inning, with the game out of reach, Ohtani went to his pull-side again, launching his first home run of the season into the right field bleachers at a projected distance of 421 feet.

“I think it’s a function of how they’ve been pitching to him, more than anything,” Maddon said.

Maddon also announced that Ohtani will be in the lineup Saturday, a day before his first scheduled start as a pitcher Sunday. In the past, Ohtani has been off the day before his pitching outings. But this year, the Angels are giving him more freedom to make collaborative decisions with the team about his playing time.

“He wants to play,” Maddon said.