Michael Lorenzen was a surprise choice for the American League All-Star team.
The Detroit Tigers right-hander has validated that honor this month. He hasn’t given up a run in July, and he will try to keep that streak going against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Lorenzen (5-6, 3.49 ERA) pitched five shutout innings against the Oakland A’s on July 6 in his final start prior to the All-Star break.
In his first outing after the break, he held the Seattle Mariners to two hits in 6 2/3 shutout innings on July 15. In his latest start, Lorenzen limited the Kansas City Royals to three hits in seven scoreless innings on Thursday.
Overall, he hasn’t allowed a run in 21 2/3 innings, which is making him a candidate to be traded by the end of the month. The 31-year-old veteran will be a free agent at the end of the season.
“I have to get outs,” Lorenzen said. “My job is to put our team in the best position to win. That’s hard enough. If I have all that clutter in my mind (regarding the trade deadline), I’m not going to be successful. You have to be mentally tough enough to block that out.”
Lorenzen hasn’t piled up strikeouts during his streak — he had only three against the Royals — but he has been getting ahead in the count.
“With the amount of strikes I’ve been known to throw, teams are going to come out aggressive,” Lorenzen said. “If you can leverage that into weak contact, you can have some success.”
The Angels’ starter on Wednesday, Patrick Sandoval, is coming off his self-described best outing of the season. Sandoval (5-7, 4.16) held the New York Yankees to one run and two hits in 7 1/3 innings on July 18.
“I struggled early with the strike zone, but I did a good job slowing things down and attacking the zone,” the left-hander said afterward.
Sandoval, 26, struck out seven, one shy of his season best. He has struck out just 77 in 93 innings, but he has allowed only seven homers, including a solo shot to the Yankees’ Gleyber Torres.
“He was in the zone,” Los Angeles manager Phil Nevin said. “The first two innings, he was kind of scattered a little bit and your pitch count elevates. But he really settled down after the homer. He was really locked in, and his changeup was the best it’s been all year.”
Walks have been Sandoval’s biggest problem. He has issued 39, including 14 in his past five starts.
The Angels won the series opener on Tuesday, the first contest of their nine-game road trip, but it wasn’t easy. They gave away a 6-2 lead in the ninth on four unearned runs.
Mickey Moniak, who misplayed Spencer Torkelson’s tying two-run double in center field, bounced back to hit the game-winning double in the 10th. Aaron Loup recorded his first save of the season as Los Angeles closed out a 7-6 victory.
“I don’t think there was ever a time where we felt that game got away from us,” Nevin said. “Certainly the disappointment of not getting it done in the ninth, but the way it ended for us was a nice moment for (Loup), and Mickey … had the big double to put us ahead.”
–Field Level Media