{"id":276259,"date":"2026-04-20T02:23:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T02:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/276259\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T02:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T02:23:45","slug":"angels-waste-strong-1st-start-from-walbert-urena-against-padres-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/276259\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels waste strong 1st start from Walbert Ure\u00f1a against Padres \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Walbert Urena delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Walbert Urena delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels starter Walbert Urena reacts after pitching in the second inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels third baseman Oswald Peraza (2) is greeted by teammates after scoring during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels\u2019 Mike Trout, left, runs to first base as San Diego Padres first baseman Gavin Sheets, right, catches the ball during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) slides into second base as Los Angeles Angels second baseman Adam Frazier (20) misses a catch during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels\u2019 Zach Neto, right, slides into second base as Diego Padres second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr., left, waits to catch the ball during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Diego<\/p>\n

Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. is greeted by teammates after scoring during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels\u2019 Nolan Schanuel, left, slides into second base as he is tagged by San Diego Padres second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr., right, during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) reacts upon striking out the last batter to defeat the Angels at the end of the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) runs out to the field ahead of the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels\u2019<\/p>\n

Angels\u2019 Yoan Moncada (10) sits in the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. runs off the field at the end of the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

\"Padres\u2019<\/p>\n

Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. walks back into the dugout after scoring during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Angels, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 15<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Walbert Urena delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Caroline Brehman)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

ANAHEIM \u2014 The Angels may have found another starting pitcher.<\/a><\/p>\n

They couldn\u2019t find enough runs to get him a victory, though.<\/p>\n

Walbert Ure\u00f1a gave up two runs in six innings in his first big league start, but the Angels still lost, 2-1, to the Padres on Sunday.<\/p>\n

In the moments after the game ended, manager Kurt Suzuki wasn\u2019t ready to commit to keeping Ure\u00f1a in the rotation the next turn, although he acknowledged his outing was impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to talk about it,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cThe way he pitched today was pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was nonetheless a loss for the Angels (11-12), because they had only had two hits and only scored one run in the seventh on a Zach Neto groundout.\u00a0That inning began with two on and no outs, but the Angels couldn\u2019t take advantage.<\/p>\n

The quiet offensive day spoiled Ure\u00f1a\u2019s outing.<\/p>\n

The Angels tweaked their rotation to give Ure\u00f1a the ball on Sunday, allowing an extra day of rest for both Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz. Ure\u00f1a \u2014 or someone else \u2014 was going to have to pitch one of the days of the upcoming series against the Toronto Blue Jays anyway. The Angels have been scrambling to fill the No. 5 spot ever since Ryan Johnson went on the injured list<\/a> with an illness and subsequent hamstring issue.<\/p>\n

For Ure\u00f1a, it marked a second chance after his rough big league debut as a reliever a few weeks ago. He was sent back down after one nightmarish outing when he gave up six unearned runs.<\/p>\n

Ure\u00f1a, 22, went down to Triple-A as a starter, and he returned looking much better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was never a reliever, so that was new for me,\u201d Ure\u00f1a said. \u201cI was trying to get my routine as a reliever, but I got back to Salt Lake and I started again. I think my best thing is starting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ure\u00f1a threw 92 pitches, including 56 strikes. He threw 36 changeups, including six of the 13 whiffs he induced. His fastball \u2013 both his four-seamer and sinker \u2013 reached 100 mph in the first inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was awesome,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cHis fastball command, he was attacking the zone. Changeup was really good. Mixed in some breaking balls, but for the most part, he was just attacking them, making them swing the bat. If he\u2019s in the zone, I think he\u2019s going to be tough to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ure\u00f1a struck out eight, and he didn\u2019t walk anyone until he took the mound in the seventh, which was something of a surprising decision.\u00a0Ure\u00f1a was at 83 pitches after six. Although he had retired seven hitters in a row since allowing a run in the fourth, his velocity was trending down. His average fastball in the sixth was 97 mph, after starting the game at 100 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt like he was throwing the ball really well,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cMe and (pitching coach Mike Maddux<\/a>) were talking about it, down by one, see if he can get us one more inning. We liked the way he was throwing. He said he was feeling good. He was built up. He threw 85 pitches in his last start (in Triple-A). We liked the way he was throwing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ure\u00f1a, however, admitted that he was getting tired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was good when I came out for the seventh, but after I threw a couple of pitches, yeah, I get a little bit tired,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ure\u00f1a ended up walking the first two hitters he faced in the seventh. Right-hander Sam Bachman retired the first two hitters before giving up a ground ball through the left side, knocking in the second run charged to Ure\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

The extra run turned out to be the difference in the game.<\/p>\n

The Angels didn\u2019t generate much offense, and two outs on the bases didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n

In the first, the Angels had runners at the corners with one out, when Nolan Schanuel tried to steal second. He went too early, and the Padres easily nailed him at second.<\/p>\n

Suzuki said the Angels believed they had timed Michael King\u2019s delivery, but King held the ball a little longer this time. First base coach Adam Eaton told Suzuki it was \u201cperfect timing\u201d by King. \u201cHe said it\u2019s the first time all year that he\u2019s held the ball that long, so he got us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the third, Neto was caught stealing second, ending the inning with Mike Trout at the plate.<\/p>\n

Although the Angels scored just two runs in the final two games of the series, losing both, Suzuki still took solace in the work of the starters. Jos\u00e9 Soriano, Yusei Kikuchi and Ure\u00f1a all pitched well<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a positive,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cGood starting pitching keeps you in the game. We had a chance to win every game. We held these guys to six runs in three games. That\u2019s a really good team over there. Pitching was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Walbert Urena delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2866,1334,127],"class_list":["post-276259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}