Jose Soriano delivered seven shutout innings and Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo had two hits apiece to help the Los Angeles Angels blank the host Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Saturday.
Soriano (1-0) scattered two hits, two walks and five strikeouts while breezing through Chicago hitters in a tidy 73 pitches. Relievers Ben Joyce and Kenley Jansen completed a combined two-hit shutout.
Joyce worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless eighth before Jansen followed suit in the ninth to earn his first save as an Angel. Jansen signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the club in the offseason.
LA relied on small ball in the eighth inning to score the game’s lone run. Jorge Soler walked with two outs and advanced to third on a Mike Clevinger wild pitch. Yoan Moncada’s infield hit scored Soler, as Clevinger deflected the ball but was unable to gather it to make a play.
Andrew Benintendi notched the first White Sox hit with a single leading off the fourth, but he was erased on Andrew Vaughn’s double-play grounder one batter later. Brooks Baldwin’s leadoff single in the sixth was Chicago’s only other hit.
White Sox righty Jonathan Cannon pitched five scoreless innings. Cannon allowed baserunners in every inning but worked out of trouble each time. His 85th and final pitch of the afternoon retired Nolan Schanuel on a called strikeout with a runner on second base.
Cannon allowed four hits, all singles, while scattering three walks and five strikeouts.
Angels center fielder Jo Adell, who pivoted to the position this season as Mike Trout shifted to right, left the game in the fifth inning after suffering left hip tightness while hustling for an infield single. Kyren Paris entered the game for Adell.
Rengifo and Paris opened the seventh with singles but LA didn’t score, as Bryse Wilson struck out Kevin Newman before inducing Ward on a double-play grounder to Miguel Vargas at third base.
Clevinger (0-1) took the loss, allowing one run and one hit in the eighth while walking one batter.
