Angels Opening Day: Three takeaways from extra-innings loss to A’s

Angels Opening Day: Andrew Heaney looked good in season debut

In what seemed like par for the course around the league, the Angels opted to only throw Andrew Heaney for 4.2 innings, keeping him under five for the night. That move seemed a desire to keep his pitch count under 75, especially after missing his last summer camp start due to back tightness.

While his night was short, it was certainly encouraging for the Angels.

A surprise choice to start the opener (well, at least the first time he was named), Heaney ran with the opportunity. While facing just 16 batters over his 4.2 innings, Heaney allowed just a pair of hits and one earned run, while striking out six.

Heaney looked sharp from the get-go, needing only nine pitches in the first inning. That included a strike-out of Ramon Laureano. He sat at just 32 pitches through his first three frames.

However, he made his only mistake of the ninth when he hung a curveball over the heart of the plate to Laureano with one out in the fourth. The A’s center fielder deposited into the left-field stands for the team’s only run off of Heaney.

While the Angels would have surely liked the win, they had to be encouraged by what they saw from Heaney. Overall, he threw 44 of his 67 pitches for strikes and made few mistakes on the mound. The key is his ability to piece these starts together, and that’ll begin Thursday against Seattle.