{"id":414380,"date":"2026-08-23T04:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/414380\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T04:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:44:10","slug":"ryan-johnson-stifles-rangers-as-angels-rotation-stays-hot-pasadena-star-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/414380\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Johnson stifles Rangers as Angels\u2019 rotation stays hot \u2013 Pasadena Star News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels starting pitcher Ryan Johnson smiles in the dugout after the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels starting pitcher Ryan Johnson throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels starting pitcher Ryan Johnson throws during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels second baseman Christian Moore, left, throws from second to first turning a double play against Texas Rangers\u2019 Jake Burger (21) and Danny Jansen during the third inning of a baseball game , Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

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

Angels\u2019 Mike Trout points to the dugout after hitting a run scoring single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

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

Angels\u2019 Zach Neto (9) reacts from second base next to Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger (21) after hitting a double during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

\"Angels<\/p>\n

Angels Zach Neto, left, steals third base against Texas Rangers third baseman Ezequiel Duran during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers second baseman Cody Freeman, left, throws to first base from second base turning double play against Los Angeles Angels\u2019 Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros (13) and Jose Siri during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

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

Angels\u2019 Zach Neto slides safely into third base for a triple during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

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

Angels\u2019 Zach Neto is congratulated in the dugout after scoring during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 10<\/p>\n

Angels starting pitcher Ryan Johnson smiles in the dugout after the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\n<\/p>\n

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

ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 Ryan Johnson, who just a few weeks ago was pitching so poorly that he was sent to the minors, has suddenly become a part of an Angels rotation that is having a week to give the Angels hope for the future.<\/a><\/p>\n

Johnson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and he finished by allowing one hit in seven innings in the Angels\u2019 3-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

It was the fourth time in five games on this trip that an Angels starter went at least six innings without allowing an earned run. Right-hander George Klassen, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and left-hander Reid Detmers had also done it.<\/p>\n

The \u201cworst\u201d start of the week has been from the pitcher who has been their best starter. Right-hander Walbert Ure\u00f1a gave up three runs<\/a> in five innings in a loss on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see another guy go out there and and dominate and shove, and it gives you a little bit of motivation to go out there and keep it going,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt also shows hitter weaknesses at times. What they are doing well. Kind of analyzing it and keep that momentum going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson, a native of the Dallas area, got the victory in front of his friends and family with just enough support from the hitters. The Angels had 10 hits, including Zach Neto\u2019s two doubles<\/a> and a triple and two hits from Mike Trout, and the defense was flawless.<\/p>\n

It added up to another encouraging performance for Johnson, who has made a dramatic turnaround. He was optioned to Triple-A on July 31, after back-to-back starts in which he allowed at least five runs. A few days later, though, the Angels traded Jos\u00e9 Soriano and he was back.<\/p>\n

Since then, Johnson has a 1.69 ERA in four starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been trending up,\u201d manager Kurt Suzuki said. \u201cStuff\u2019s getting better. He\u2019s getting more consistent. He\u2019s believing in himself. I think tonight was just the culmination of him just believing in it, trusting in it, and obviously the stuff\u2019s playing up. But when you throw with confidence, you tend to kind of keep getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last three have coincided with the transition with the Angels pitching coaches<\/a>. Since interim pitching coach Tim Leveque took over last week, one of the changes has been having the pitchers simplify their game plans, focusing on their strengths more than the hitters\u2019 weaknesses.<\/p>\n

In Johnson\u2019s case, that has meant throwing more cutters and fewer sinkers. Up until recently, he was throwing the cutter slightly more often than the sinker. In his last two starts, he\u2019s thrown 94 cutters and nine sinkers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a matter of enhancing what he does really well and and having him believe in it and trust it,\u201d Suzuki said.<\/p>\n

Suzuki pointed out that they aren\u2019t abandoning the sinker. Although he only threw seven of them on Saturday, the average velocity was up from 92 mph to 94 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been looking at it and working on it and being able to throw the cutter to both sides of the plate really opens it up and makes it a much more effective pitch, and it\u2019s playing really well,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re still seeing opportunities for when the sinker can be good. I think we\u2019re doing a good job of realizing those, and it\u2019s gotten better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson started out the game using all of his pitches, but as the game wore on, he leaned more and more on his cutter. His sweeper was also effective, generating seven whiffs on 14 swings.<\/p>\n

Johnson retired the first six hitters of the game before hitting Jake Burger with a pitch. He then got a double play.<\/p>\n

The Rangers didn\u2019t get a hit until Cody Freeman led off the sixth with a clean line drive into left field. Two outs later, Johnson walked Corey Seager, facing his first jam of the game. He escaped when Wyatt Langford hit a dribbler in front of the mound, and Johnson threw him out at first.<\/p>\n

After Johnson\u2019s day ended, the Angels (52-78) closed it out with Michael Fulmer in the eighth and Ryan Watson in the ninth.<\/p>\n

The offense was sparked by Neto and Trout, who had been in a 1-for-17 slump coming into the game.<\/p>\n

In the first inning, Neto led off with a double and then Trout drove him in with a bloop single into center. Trout led off the sixth with a double, and then he scored on Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros\u2019 double off the fence in right-center. Ballesteros narrowly missed his first Angels\u2019 homer.<\/p>\n

Neto led off the eighth with a triple and he scored on a Vaughn Grissom single.<\/p>\n

The defense also helped. Second baseman Christian Moore made a sliding stop<\/a>, Neto made a couple good plays at shortstop, and the best play of the day came from third baseman Denzer Guzman, whose error allowed the winning run on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Guzman was shading up the middle in the ninth inning when Seager hit a bouncer toward the line. Guzman went to his backhand and got the ball, then he made a quick throw to first without even planting his feet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat ninth inning, I feel like getting that first out was huge,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cOverall in general, turning some double plays, making some nice plays in the outfield. All those type of things. It\u2019s nice. The more we work on it and we get better at it, the consistency will come. That\u2019s kind of the recipe for what you really want.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angels starting pitcher Ryan Johnson smiles in the dugout after the sixth inning of a baseball game against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,19950,7677,154],"class_list":["post-414380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}