Angels’ Soriano streak

José Soriano opened 2026 by winning his first four starts, the first Angels starter to do that since Jered Weaver in 2011. (espn.com) Through four outings, Soriano has thrown 27 innings and allowed one earned run for a 0.33 earned run average, with 31 strikeouts, nine walks and a 0.67 walks-and-hits-per-inning-pitched mark. (espn.com) His latest start came Sunday, April 12, when he struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings in a 9-6 win at Cincinnati and became the major leagues’ first four-game winner. (sports.yahoo.com) Before that, Soriano beat Houston 3-0 on March 26 with six scoreless innings, Chicago 2-0 on March 31 with six more scoreless innings, and Atlanta 6-2 on April 6 after allowing his first earned run across eight innings. (espn.com) The run stands out for an Angels club that entered April 13 at 8-8 after taking its first series in Cincinnati since 2007. Soriano’s four wins account for half of the team’s victories. (espn.com) It also puts Soriano in company the Angels have not seen often in recent years. Major League Baseball said after his first three starts that he had joined Chuck Finley in 1998, Jered Weaver in 2011 and Shohei Ohtani in 2023 as Angels pitchers to open a season with three straight outings of six or more innings, one or fewer runs allowed and at least four strikeouts. (mlb.com) Soriano, 27, reached the majors in 2023 after the Angels selected him from Pittsburgh in the Rule 5 draft before the 2020 season. Baseball-Reference lists him at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds and says he was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on October 20, 1998. (baseball-reference.com) Weaver is the last Angels starter previously tied to this kind of opening burst. Major League Baseball’s archive shows Weaver striking out 15 Blue Jays over 7 2/3 innings on April 10, 2011, during the season in which he opened with six straight wins. (mlb.com) Soriano’s next starts will determine how long the streak lasts, but four turns into the season he has already matched an Angels benchmark that had stood for 15 years. (sports.yahoo.com)