Rodriguez leaves with back tightness and five-run 8th inning sink Angels
Jack Janes
Host · Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — It hasn’t been the start to his Angels tenure that Grayson Rodriguez wanted.
The right-hander was looking to come into this season healthy after an elbow surgery and lat issues have kept him sidelined since July of 2024. But it hasn’t panned out that way.
He started the season on the injured list because of dead arm that he developed in spring training. Once he returned from injury, inconsistency on the mound led to an 8.10 ERA in his first five starts.
In his sixth start on Sunday, Rodriguez battled with his command, but it didn’t last long as he had to leave the game in the third inning due to lower back tightness in the Angels’ 8-3 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"Obviously it's frustrating anytime you've got to come out of the game, especially when you're on the IL as long as I was here recently," Rodriguez said. "But, I feel like I'm getting close. I feel like my stuff's getting a little bit better…
"I really wish I could have pitched deep today. It's super frustrating."
After throwing a wild pitch for ball four to load the bases with only one out, Rodriguez gingerly walked off the mound and got a visit from the training staff. After a lengthy discussion, he walked off the field.
Rodriguez pitched 2 ⅓ innings, walked a pair of batters and allowed three hits. Two runs were charged to him because right-hander Chase Silseth allowed a two-run single with the bases loaded before getting out of the inning.
Although he left with lower back tightness, Rodriguez’s velocity was normal. He averaged 96.2 mph in this start, and his season average is 96.4 mph.
Rodriguez said he has been dealing with some soreness in his back for about a month, but nothing significant until it tightened up on him on his second-to-last pitch. He said he isn't too concerned about it, and Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said he will get evaluated more to know more of what's going on.
It was a tight game until the eighth inning, as both offenses couldn’t get anything going.
Rookie Denzer Guzman picked up an RBI single to score the game’s first run in the second inning. Then the Angels tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth when Donovan Walton led off with a home run and Logan Porter scored on a two-strike, two-out single by Jo Adell.
Adell finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch after going 4-for-5 the night before. He’s now 13-for-30 (.433) over his last seven games.
But things unwraveled for right-hander Sam Bachman in the eighth inning.
Bachman got tagged for five runs, which included a pair of two-run home runs and a two-strike, two-out RBI single by Rays catcher Hunter Feduccia.
"Just not making pitches to locations I want to go to," Bachman said.
It was the first time since May 5 that Bachman allowed any runs. He threw 13 consecutive scoreless innings before Sunday. His ERA on the season went from 1.99 to 3.31.
"He's been so good for such a long period of time that you just chalk it up and move forward," Suzuki said.
