José Soriano strikes out 10 in 8 innings; Angels lineup left Chris Sale frustrated

José Soriano has arrived

Since José Soriano rejoined the Angels organization after being returned to them by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021, there has been optimism that he could be a front-line starter for the club.

On Monday night, he showed the world why the Angels think so highly of him.

Soriano went a career high 8 innings, striking out 10 batters, and gave up 3 hits, 1 run, and zero walks.

At first, it looked like he was in for a long night after a solo homer to the Braves two hole man in the lineup, Drake Baldwin.

Baldwin’s homer was the first time through 12 innings to start the season Soriano has given up a run as the ball screamed off his bat at 102 MPH into the right field bleachers over Jorge Soler’s head.

Then, after the solo shot, Soriano gave up his second hit of the evening, a single by Matt Olson.

But from then on, Soriano would retire the next 19 batters he faced.

“When those things happen, you have to keep pitching," Soriano said. “… You have to keep pounding the zone."

The Braves didn’t have a batter reach base until Mike Yastrzemski singled in the eighth inning.

Everything was going right for Soriano tonight, who matched a career high for innings pitched (8).

The Braves were off-balanced all game long, striking out 10 times and having only 3 hits against the Angels’ ace.

“It felt great, especially after the outing it was. I felt great." Soriano said.

Soriano’s knuckle curve generated 5 strikeouts for him, while his splitter had 3. Soriano’s knuckle curve was his go-to and best pitch of the outing, breaking at an average of 43 inches.

“They’re not punching out this year, and for (Soriano) to come in and do that, it speaks about the stuff and execution," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Him and (Logan O’Hoppe) were on the same page. I thought (O’Hoppe) did a tremendous job back there with (Soriano) mixing it up and keeping them off balanced."

While the strikeouts were there for him, so were the whiffs, generating 15.

With another great start under his belt to start the season 3-0, Soriano credited the communication between him and O’Hoppe, who has caught for him every start he’s had this year.

“We try to be in the same place every time we go out there on the field," Soriano said. “I think that’s part of the chemistry we have."

Efficency was another area he thrived in tonight, by keeping his pitch count low and not giving up any walks. Through 4 innings, he was only at 45 pitches; through 7, he was at 77. At the end of the game, he was at 97.

Zach Neto moves up the ladder for leadoff home runs in Angels history

Monday night marked another milestone for Angels shortstop Zach Neto by moving up the all-time list for leadoff home runs by an Angels player.

Standing at the plate in front of future Hall of Fame pitcher Chris Sale, Neto was not phased by the moment.

Sale fired a first-pitch fastball in the middle of the strike zone, and Neto got all of it, sending it 400 feet towards left field for a leadoff home run.

Zach Neto just hit his 11th career leadoff home run. It's also his second leadoff home run this season. The last was on Saturday against the Mariners.pic.twitter.com/qCJiYkd0y2

— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) April 7, 2026

Neto’s leadoff homer was the 11th in his career and second this season, after hitting one on Saturday’s 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

With 11 leadoff homers etched to his name, Neto is now third all-time on the Angels’ all-time list for leadoff homers, moving past his former teammate Taylor Ward and former outfielder Kole Calhoun. He’s now one behind two-time All-Star Darin Erstad.

The Angels’ offense gets the better of Chris Sale 

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Jo Adell (7) hits a home run during an MLB game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday April 6, 2026, in Los Angeles, Calif.

The fourth inning was visibly a headache for Sale, who threw 32 pitches and gave up 3 runs. The fifth was a migraine.

The Angels had 8 batters reach base and scored 5 runs between the fourth and fifth innings to end Sale’s night.

Sale began the fourth by loading the bases via a hit by pitch on Jorge Soler, giving up a single to Jo Adell, and walking Jeimer Candelario.

Immediately after he loaded the bases, Sale reacted on the mound and screamed into his glove.

With the bases loaded, against a frustrated Sale, Logan O’Hoppe was due up next at the plate. Sale managed to throw two strikes against O’Hoppe but ended up walking him and giving the Angels a 2-1 lead.

Sale got Oswald Peraza out in the next at bat, but then made another mental mistake by hitting Yoán Moncada with a pitch in the knee, bringing in a third run for the Angels. They added one more run when Bryce Teodosio hit a ground ball towards short, forcing Mauricio Dubón to dive for the ball, and not giving the Braves enough time to make a play.

“Obviously, he’s a big strikeout pitcher, and there is a lot of swing and miss on his stuff," Adell said. “So we were just trying to tunnel the zone, find pitches that we thought we could hit, and not try to get too big, and laying off a lot of those pitches down in the zone."

“The walks crept in, which was good for us and kind of put the pressure on and got the timely hitting when we needed it."

With the Angels taking advantage of mistakes by Sale and utilizing small ball, he managed to get out of the inning by getting Adam Frazier to ground out and striking out Neto swinging.

But in the fifth inning, Sale would only throw two pitches to two batters before he was pulled.

Like the fourth, Sale opened the inning up against Soler. Soler ripped a line drive single to left field. Then came his final batter, Jo Adell.

Adell, who made headlines over the weekend for robbing three homers on Saturday night, hit his first homer of the season.

“I thought I was starting to forget what it feels like," Adell said, laughing during postgame about not having a home run this season. “No, it feels good to put up a good swing, and obviously Sale’s a front-line starter, just amazing pitcher."

“We were able to kind of get him back into the zone where we wanted."

Sale fired a fastball on the outside part of the zone, and Adell got all of it, sending it 411 feet out to center field to give the Angels a 6-1 lead, ending Sale’s night.

This guy, Jo Adell, who people might've heard of over the weekend, just hit his first home run of the season on a two-run bomb to center field. The Braves pull Chris Sale out of the game after the play and are up 6-1.pic.twitter.com/MZsu1BWPaH

— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) April 7, 2026

“He’s really kind of becoming the complete player. His defense was obviously on display at the last series, and tonight, hitting the home run off Sale, which is not easy," Suzuki said. “The thing I liked about it was his line drive. It was a freaking line drive rocket, and that was awesome."

Notes

Before today’s game, Suzuki said three-time MVP Mike Trout is considered day-to-day after leaving Sunday’s game by getting hit by a pitch on the hand.

Suzuki anticipates RHP Grayson Rodriguez to be rejoining the pitching rotation soon, as he is “Getting ready to go" after starting the season on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation.

Suzuki said Ben Joyce is starting to feel better but is not ready to face hitters. He is throwing bullpens, though.