Soler, Adell Go Back-to-Back to Sink SF in Fourth
Jo Adell's 446-foot bomb to center in the fourth inning — a two-run shot that followed Jorge Soler's solo homer by just one at-bat — swung San Francisco's win probability from 23% all the way down to 11%, effectively ending the game before the fifth inning began. Los Angeles held on for a 4-3 win, surviving a late Giants rally that made things uncomfortable in the ninth.
The Angels wasted no time getting on the board. In the first, Soler grounded into a fielder's choice to shortstop, but Trout scored on the play to put LAA up 1-0. That was just the appetizer. The fourth inning is where this game was decided: Soler went deep to center for 419 feet and a 2-0 lead, and then Adell immediately followed with a 446-foot two-run shot — Schanuel scoring ahead of him — to make it 4-0. Two swings, two center-field home runs, game effectively over. Soler finished 1-for-4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and a run scored; Adell matched him line-for-line: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R. The story of the night was that back-to-back sequence, and it wasn't particularly close.
Mike Trout went 4-for-4 with a run scored — a quietly dominant performance that appears to have been the engine keeping the lineup moving all night. On the mound, Jose Soriano gave the Angels exactly what they needed: 5.0 innings, 3 hits, zero earned runs, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Carson Whisenhunt took the loss for San Francisco, allowing 4 earned runs on 5 hits over 5.0 innings, though he did punch out 7. Adrian Houser came on in relief and was sharp — 4.0 innings, 2 hits, 0 ER — but the damage was already done.
San Francisco's only real threat came in the fifth, when a throwing error by shortstop Neto allowed Adames to score on an Arraez fielder's choice, cutting the deficit to 4-1. The Giants went quiet until the ninth, when Arraez doubled to right to score both Cavanaugh and Adames, pulling SF within 4-3. It looks like that ninth-inning sequence had all the makings of a genuine comeback, but the Angels' bullpen — Ryan Zeferjahn tossing 1.0 inning of two-strikeout, scoreless ball — slammed the door. Arraez finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBI in a losing effort; Cavanaugh went 2-for-2 with a run scored. The Giants put up a fight late, but four runs in the fourth inning proved to be an insurmountable hole to dig out of.