Dana youngest Angels pitcher to win in debut
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ANAHEIM, Calif. —
Taylor Ward extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff homer, and Anthony Rendon provided the go-ahead hit with a two-run single in the fifth.
“It’s awesome. That was special. Everyone behind me played well,” said Dana, who struck out four and walked four. “It was a good feeling getting a win like that. Getting a win like that helps going into the next outing.”
Luke Raley homered for Seattle, which dropped to 5-4 since Dan Wilson replaced Scott Servais as manager on Aug. 22.
Bryce Miller (10-8) gave up three runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Dana, who led Double-A with 147 strikeouts, appeared in the MLB Futures Game in July and is considered the Angels’ best pitching prospect. An 11th-round pick in the 2022 amateur draft, Dana went 9-7 with a 2.52 ERA in 23 starts for Rocket City before being called up Friday.
“Honestly, I was really nervous, and after that first pitch, that was when all my nerves kind of released. Getting the two quick outs definitely gave me confidence to trust myself,” Dana said.
He threw 52 of his 95 pitches for strikes. He walked two straight with two outs in the fifth before he fanned Victor Robles to get out of the inning.
“I thought he had enough secondary stuff to kind of complement the fastball and kept us off stride just enough,” Wilson said. “He got deep enough into the game that their bullpen was able to take over.”
Ben Joyce worked a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.
Dana retired the first five hitters he faced before Raley connected on a fastball down the middle and drove it 433 feet into the left-center stands to tie it at 1. Six of Raley’s 16 homers have come since Aug. 1.
The Angels quickly got on the board when Ward hit his second leadoff homer in three games. The shot to center just got over the wall after Julio Rodriguez mistimed his jump. It was Ward’s 19th homer, one off the team lead.
Seattle’s Josh Rojas led off the third with a ground-rule double down the left-field line. He advanced to third on Leo Rivas‘ grounder and scored on Robles’ sacrifice fly to put the Mariners up 2-1.
The Angels regained the lead in the fifth. Rendon put them on top with a single to left to drive in Ward and Zach Neto after Rivas was unable to make a diving catch at shortstop on the low liner.
