Randal Grichuk finished last season with the Los Angeles Angels, but his 54-game cameo wasn’t productive enough for a return invitation.
Grichuk signed as a free agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks in mid-February and presented the Angels with a little payback in Tuesday’s opener of a three-game set. The teams will play the middle contest Wednesday night in Phoenix.
Grichuk went 3-for-4 with a homer and fell a single short of the cycle in Arizona’s 9-4 victory on Tuesday. He scored three times, drove in two runs and walked once.
In his last at-bat, he was well aware of what was at stake, but there would be no single. Grichuk nearly missed his second homer of the game as Taylor Ward caught the drive against the wall in left.
“It enters (your mind) because I get on base and their first baseman brought it up,” Grichuk said of the cycle possibility. “Guys on our team bring it up. I said, ‘If I lace the ball in the gap, I’m going for two.'”
Grichuk was acquired by the Angels from the Colorado Rockies last July 30, one day after Ward was hit in the face by a pitch from Toronto’s Alex Manoah and sustained season-ending facial fractures.
Grichuk hit eight homers for the Angels but batted just .216, with 45 strikeouts.
The Diamondbacks signed Grichuk — who has topped 20 homers on five occasions — to give manager Torey Lovullo more options.
However, Grichuk hasn’t received much playing time. Just two seasons ago, he topped 500 at-bats for the third time in his career.
This season, the 32-year-old has 98 after Tuesday’s game. He is batting .316.
“It’s not easy. This is the first year I have not played every day,” said Grichuk, who is in his 11th season. “So just trying to get a good feel for my routine during pregame and during the game and being ready … It’s been tough.”
Corbin Carroll also flirted with a cycle Tuesday and fell a homer short. Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. also had three-hit outings as the Diamondbacks won for the seventh time in 10 games.
Ward homered and had an RBI double for the Angels, who have lost three of their past four games. Ward departed the game for a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth due to low back tightness. Manager Ron Washington cited the six-run margin at that time for the precautionary move.
Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe dealt with a more dire circumstance. He exited in the sixth inning after being struck by Grichuk’s foul ball in the groin area. O’Hoppe was down for several minutes before getting up and walking to the dugout.
“It was painful,” Washington said of O’Hoppe. “Right now, we’re going to wait and see how he feels in the morning. But it was a painful situation.”
Jose Soriano (3-5, 3.64 ERA) of the Angels and Slade Cecconi (1-4, 5.66) of Arizona will square off in a battle of right-handers on Wednesday.
Soriano, 25, is coming off a victory over the San Diego Padres on June 5. He gave up two runs (one earned) and six hits in six innings in the Angels’ 3-2 victory.
Soriano pitched a scoreless inning of relief in his lone career appearance against the Diamondbacks last July. Eugenio Suarez homered off Soriano last season when he played for the Seattle Mariners.
Cecconi’s lone victory came in his first appearance of the season on April 21. He has allowed six runs three times — twice as a starter and once in relief.
In his last outing, Cecconi gave up three runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Thursday as Arizona won 4-3.
Cecconi, who will turn 25 on June 24, has never faced the Angels.
–Field Level Media