Griffin Canning pitched five strong innings for his first win in six weeks, and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the New York Mets 3-2 on Sunday.
Matt Thaiss and Kevin Pillar each contributed a sacrifice fly for the Angels, who ended the Mets’ playoff hopes by winning the last two games of a three-game series.
The Angels’ bullpen allowed just two hits over four scoreless innings, with Roansy Contreras closing the game with a perfect ninth inning to earn his second save.
The Angels had recently traded away closer Carlos Estévez and effective reliever Luis García before last week’s deadline. However, hard-throwing rookie Ben Joyce earned his first career save on Saturday, and the bullpen continued to perform well on Sunday.
“It felt a little bit sad because of all of the trades that were made, but at the same time, we told each other that we have to keep playing good baseball and we gave each other good vibes,” Contreras said through a translator. “We have just kept rolling.”
New York has now lost two consecutive one-run games for the first time this season.
Canning (4-10) allowed three hits, four walks, and struck out a season-high eight batters to get his first win since June 24. He gave up two runs, only one of which was earned.
“I think I was in a good spot mentally, not trying to be so perfect and probably hiding the ball a bit better,” Canning said.
Jose Quintana (6-7) gave up three runs in five innings for the Mets, who are 1-2 so far on a 10-game, four-city road trip. They will travel to St. Louis on Monday for a makeup game against the Cardinals.
“It was tough for me, especially commanding the ball in the beginning,” Quintana said after issuing four walks.
“Too many times I was behind in the count and I felt off with my mechanics. During the game, I made the adjustments, but I gave up a couple of runs.”
The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single from Harrison Bader, but the Angels scored twice in the bottom of the second. Taylor Ward scored on Quintana’s wild pitch, and Thaiss had a sacrifice fly to bring in Jo Adell.
