WEST SACRAMENTO — Nolan Schanuel has started to heat up over the last two weeks and kept it rolling in the series opener against the Athletics on Monday.
Schanuel went 3-for-4 with a homer and two doubles to help the Angels to a 4-3 win in their first-ever game at Sutter Health Park, extending their winning streak to four games.
It marked his first career game with three extra-base hits, besting his previous high of two extra-base hits — two doubles — in a game against the Rangers last year.
It also marked his first game with multiple batted balls with exit velocities of more than 100 mph.
“I saw the ball really well tonight,” Schanuel said. “Hopefully it carries over to the rest of the series. I felt pretty comfortable. Just kind of had a good approach. With their starter, I knew what I was looking for.”
It was a continuation of a strong stretch for Schanuel, who is hitting .373/.467/.510 with a homer, four doubles and five RBIs over his last 14 games, dating back to May 3. It’s lifted his slash line on the season from .231/.314/.356 to a more respectable .277/.365/.406 in 44 games.
Schanuel said he believes his recent success has been because he’s been swinging at better pitches to hit and is being more aggressive early in counts. He credited hitting coaches Johnny Washington, Tim Laker and Jayson Nix for helping him get going offensively.
“I think it’s picking out a good pitch early, not swinging at anything out of my zone,” Schanuel said. “If it’s a strike and it’s not in my zone, I’ll let it go and hopefully get another one. A lot of props to J-Wash, Nixy and Laker. If I swing at a first pitch that’s borderline, then I’m not going to hit it as well as if I just wait and hunt for my pitch. So I think ultimately that helps a lot.”
Schanuel got the Angels on the board early yet again, after they scored in the first inning of all three games in their Freeway Series sweep over the Dodgers over the weekend. He smacked a solo shot off right-hander J.T. Ginn for just his third homer of the year and his first since April 13.
Angels manager Ron Washington liked what he saw from Schanuel, noting that he’s always had good numbers when facing the A’s. Schanuel has hit .317 with four homers, three doubles and 12 RBIs in 18 career games against them.
“He’s swinging the bat well,” Washington said. “Some teams you just play well against. If you go back and look, he does well against [the A’s], so I’m glad he was doing his thing tonight.”
Schanuel nearly homered again in the third, ripping a double off the wall in right-field after Zach Neto singled to open the inning. It sparked a three-run rally, with Yoán Moncada bringing home a run with an RBI groundout before Taylor Ward connected on a two-run blast.
In the fifth, Schanuel roped a double down the right-field line but was stranded there after Moncada and Ward both struck out swinging. Schanuel also flied out to left in the seventh, falling short of his first career four-hit performance.
He also admitted he was thinking triple out of the box on his fifth-inning double in a bid for the cycle, but right fielder Lawrence Butler got to it too quickly. He has one triple in 220 career games, which came in St. Louis on April 1.
“I was [thinking about a triple] and I was sprinting,” Schanuel said. “But Butler got a good jump on it. I was watching him.”
But it was still another promising showing for Schanuel, and the Angels needed every bit of it with their one-run victory. Right-hander José Soriano allowed three runs over six innings and relievers Ryan Zeferjahn, Héctor Neris and Kenley Jansen each threw a scoreless inning. Jansen improved to 9-for-9 in save chances and is up to 456 career saves.
“Things are going really good,” Schanuel said. “We’re scoring more runs earlier on in the game. The pitching is coming out, doing their thing, and it’s awesome to see and be a part of.”
