The Los Angeles Angels avoided a three-game sweep by defeating the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Sunday at Oracle Park.
Trade candidates José Soriano, Jorge Soler, and Jo Adell led the Angels ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.
Soriano picked up the win to move to 9-6 on the season, yielding one unearned run across five innings on three hits and three walks while striking out five.
The right-hander overcame a fifth-inning defensive misplay on a pop fly by Willy Adames that shortstop Zach Neto lost in the sun for a double, followed by a Neto throwing error that allowed a run to score.
Soriano threw 85 pitches and lowered his season ERA to 3.29 across 22 starts, though he leads the American League with 56 walks in 123 innings.
"I feel like I've been throwing better with my fastball," Soriano said. "I've been working hard and having the result I want because of that."
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki praised the starting pitcher's overall sharpness on the mound after pulling him before the sixth inning.
"Things looked a little crisper today, even more than last time," Suzuki said. "Breaking balls were good, couple good splits.
Splits were pretty firm and crisp, so they almost looked like sinkers. I thought he was really good today."
Offensively, Mike Trout delivered a 4-for-4 performance with a double and a run scored, raising his season batting average to .
247.
It marked Trout's first four-hit game since April 26, 2021, and his first 4-for-4 outing since August 15, 2019.
"He can hit, you know," Suzuki said. "He's going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
He's always under control. He's always controlling the strike zone.
He's not trying to do too much. You saw today.
He didn't like absolutely blister every ball, but it was just good at-bats, good approaches. That's what Hall-of-Fame hitters do."
Soler opened the Angels' scoring in the first inning with an RBI groundout that brought Trout home.
He later led off the fourth inning with a solo home run off Giants starter Carson Whisenhunt, marking his 13th homer of the year and his first since June 24.
"I've been traded many times, so I'm not worried about that," Soler said through interpreter Manny Del Campo.
"What I need to do is get better, hit better and help the team win."
Soler also reflected on ending his home run drought against his former team.
"It felt great to hit that the homer, not because I hit it against them, because it was a long time since I hit a homer," Soler said through an interpreter.
Adell extended the lead in the fourth inning with a 446-foot two-run home run off Whisenhunt, his 16th of the season.
"That was nice," Suzuki said.
"I was watching him hit today in the cage before the game, and he was putting some nice swings out there.
He's been working and he did the same thing in the game."
San Francisco rallied in the ninth inning against relievers Sam Bachman and Mitch Farris.
After Bachman walked two batters, Farris surrendered a two-run double to Luis Arraez, cutting the lead to 4-3 before striking out Heliot Ramos to earn his first major league save.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Angels (42-64).
