Rengifo, Zeferjahn, Moncada day to day after exiting home opener with injuries

ANAHEIM -- It all started out so promising.

Superstar Mike Trout delighted the sold-out crowd in the home opener with a homer in his first at-bat at Angel Stadium this season in the first inning. And the Angels tacked on three more runs in the third, keyed by two-out hits from Nolan Schanuel and Jo Adell.

But then things started to take a turn for the Angels, as they saw right-hander José Soriano uncharacteristically serve up to two homers to Guardians superstar José Ramírez before second baseman Luis Rengifo, reliever Ryan Zeferjahn and third baseman Yoán Moncada all left with injuries in an 8-6 loss on Friday night. Moncada also couldn’t handle a grounder with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, which scored two runs and proved to be the decisive blow. But manager Ron Washington sounded confident that all three will avoid the injured list.

“Rengifo has some [hamstring] tightness and I didn’t want to take any chances, so I took him out of there, but he should be good tomorrow,” Washington said. “Moncada aggravated his thumb a little bit, so I probably won’t have him in there tomorrow. And Zeferjahn has some [hamstring] tightness. So we got out of it OK.”

It was a frustrating loss for the Angels, but Trout showed that he’s starting to shake off his early-season slump, as he homered for a second straight game and also drew a leadoff walk in the third that led to a three-run rally. Trout crushed a 98 mph fastball from right-hander Gavin Williams to right-center, as he was able to get the pitch that was located up and away.

But Rengifo was forced to leave the game after that three-run inning, as he injured his left hamstring while running the bases on Adell’s go-ahead two-run single. It’s the same hamstring that kept him out of action during Spring Training.

Soriano, meanwhile, tried to build on his dominant first start of the year that saw him throw seven scoreless frames against the White Sox but was undone by a solo homer from Ramírez in the first and a game-tying, two-run blast in the fifth. But he did strike out a career-high nine batters and left with the game tied with one out in the sixth.

“I felt great tonight but I just missed a couple pitches, especially to Ramírez,” Soriano said through interpreter Manny Del Campo. “He’s a very smart hitter and a really good hitter. When you face those kinds of hitters, you just have to keep grinding.”

Zeferjahn replaced Soriano but left the game after throwing a pitch to Bo Naylor, as he injured his right hamstring a few pitches earlier. He tried to test it out with a practice pitch and had to leave the game, but he said he was feeling better afterward.

“It feels all right,” Zeferjahn said. “I felt it a couple pitches before I came out. It just was catching on me a little bit. Hopefully, we got it early and I'll be able to get back out there. So it sucks, but we're gonna work on it. And think it was just little cramp/tightness-type thing.”

Left-hander Reid Detmers came into the game and walked Naylor and Gabriel Arias but appeared to be getting out of the jam by getting Brayan Rocchio to ground to third. However, Moncada couldn’t handle it on his sliding attempt, allowing two runs to score.

“He just misjudged it,” Washington said. “I think if he would’ve stayed on his feet and reached down there, he would’ve got it. But when you leave your feet, your hands go up, and that’s what he did there.”

Moncada also had trouble with a grounder in the seventh that was ruled a hit, though it didn’t lead to any runs scoring. He then left the game after striking out in the seventh, as he reinjured his right thumb that plagued him during Spring Training and nearly caused him to miss Opening Day. But he’s hopeful he’ll be able to return in a few days.

“It bothers me a little bit, but nothing serious,” Moncada said through Del Campo. “It happened on my last swing in my last at-bat. But when I started the season, I was feeling great. It’s just that at-bat, I felt it a little bit. I’m going to do everything possible I can do to be back as quick as I can.”