OC Register: Rookie Griffin Canning dominates in Angels’ victory over Royals

[AngelsWin.com]

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  Kansas City Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred, left, and catcher Martin Maldonado, center, talk to starting pitcher Jakob Junis during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, gets congratulations from Mike Trout after hitting a two-run home run, as Kansas City Royals catcher Martin Maldonado, center, looks away during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Andrelton Simmons, left, beats the throw to Kansas City Royals catcher Martin Maldonado, right, to score on a sacrifice fly by Kole Calhoun during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, follows through on a two-run home run next to Kansas City Royals catcher Martin Maldonado, center, and home plate umpire Chris Guccione during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Doug White, second from left, and catcher Jonathan Lucroy, left, talk to starting pitcher Griffin Canning during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout, left, gets congratulations from Andrelton Simmons after hitting a solo home run against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Kansas City Royals’ Hunter Dozier, right, is forced out at second, but Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons, left, loses the ball on the transfer, as Ryan O’Hearn is safe at first during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, right, flies out to center field, while Kansas City Royals catcher Martin Maldonado, center, and home plate umpire Chris Guccione watch during the third inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, left, walks back to the dugout after striking out, with Kansas City Royals catcher Martin Maldonado watching during the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout follows through on a solo home run next to Kansas City Royals catcher Martin Maldonado during the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

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ANAHEIM — A few weeks after Griffin Canning made his major league debut, he arrived.

In his fourth big league start, the Angels prized pitching prospect put  all the pieces together and demonstrated how good he can be.

Canning pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, as the Angels took a five-run lead and held on for a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

The night also included Mike Trout’s 250th homer, a first-inning blast that was Trout’s longest homer in nearly four years.

Shohei Ohtani also hit a two-run homer, his first of the season at Angel Stadium.

The Angels improved to 22-23, giving them a chance on Sunday to get  back to .500 for the first time since they were 8-8.

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Regardless of where this season ends up, though, Angels fans can feel much better about the future after watching Canning, a 23-year-old product of UCLA and Santa Margarita High.

This was not only the best of his four big league starts, but the first time in any professional start that he’d finished seven innings.

In his first three starts, he’d shown flashes of his talent for three or four innings at a time, but there were also lapses or stretches when he showed room for improvement.

“Really he’s still learning himself,” Manager Brad Ausmus said before the game. “The minor leagues are for development but nowadays guys come up pretty quickly at a young age. He’s got to learn not only how to get these hitters out, because he hasn’t faced most of them, but he’s also got to learn himself.”

On Saturday night Canning came out firing his fastball early. He hit  95 mph for the first time as a big leaguer in the first inning on his way to an average fastball velocity of 93.7 for the night. He came into the game averaging 92.9 mph.

He retired the first 12 hitters of the game on just 49 pitches, a more efficient total that in previous games because he’d struck out just three of them.

Canning’s only real trouble came in the fifth, after a leadoff walk to Alex Gordon and then a single by Hunter Dozier. Canning retired the next three — although one was a 109 mph lineout to third baseman David Fletcher — and then he tacked on two more scoreless innings.

In all Canning needed just 93 pitches to become the third Angels pitcher this season to finish seven innings. Matt Harvey did it against the Royals and Félix Peña did it following an opener in Detroit.

By the time Canning threw his final pitch, the Angels had taken a five-run lead.

Trout got them on the board in the first with a 473-foot blast to left field. Since Statcast has been tracking official home run distances in 2015, Trout’s only longer homer was a 477-foot blast at Coors Field.

The Angels were hanging on to a 2-0 lead in the sixth, when Trout walked and then Ohtani lofted a high arching homer into the right field seats. It was Ohtani’s second homer since being activated on May 7.

The lead was threatened after Taylor Cole gave up three runs in the eighth, but Ty Buttrey finished that inning and worked the ninth for the save.

More to come on this story.

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[tdawg87]

Canning was acey last night.

[Blarg]

10 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Trout got them on the board in the first with a 473-foot blast to left field.

It was in the 60's and sprinkling when Trout hit that monster bomb. Had it been a warm summers evening who knows how far it would have traveled.

[tdawg87]

2 minutes ago, Blarg said:

It was in the 60's and sprinkling when Trout hit that monster bomb. Had it been a warm summers evening who knows how far it would have traveled.

474 feet because Marine layer.

It's our invisible, atmospheric Tarpy.