Canning gives up one run in six innings, lowering his ERA to 1.53 in his past three starts, and Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto and Taylor Ward hit homers as the Angels snap their three-game losing streak with a 7-2 win.
ANAHEIM — Griffin Canning continued his early-season turnaround on a night when the Angels finally put everything together.
Canning pitched six strong innings in the Angels’ 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, a game that included home runs from Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto and Taylor Ward.
The Angels (16-28) snapped their three-game losing streak with one of their best all-around performances of the season.
“That’s what we’re all about,” Neto said. “That’s what we were all about in spring training and early in the year. Play the game right and the game will reward you. If you do the little things right, big things will happen.”
It began with Canning, who gave up one run to improve his ERA to 1.53 over his last three starts. He has dropped his season ERA from 7.45 to 5.12.
“He’s getting ahead of hitters, commanding his fastball, being able to land his off speed stuff behind in the count, using it early to get ahead,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He’s really pitching right now.”
Canning said one of the improvements he’s made recently has been focusing on simply winning the competition against the hitter, as opposed to thinking about what mechanics can produce the perfect pitch.
“Just just trying to focus on being on the attack,” Canning said. “Just me vs. the hitter, just trying to force contact and not shy away from it.”
Sure enough, Canning faced a few big moments in which the game required him to win a key confrontation.
In the first inning, Lars Nootbaar doubled with one out, but Canning then struck out Paul Goldschmidt and got Nolan Arenado on a grounder.
Canning got left-handed hitting Brendan Donovan on a fly ball in the fourth, stranding two runners. The Cardinals had a runner at second with one and the top of the order due in the fifth, but he retired Matt Carpenter and Nootbaar to escape.
Canning ended his night by striking out Donovan on a changeup, his fifth strikeout of the night.
Relievers Matt Moore and Luis Garcia, who were two of the pitchers who participated in the eight-run nightmare inning that cost the Angels in Monday’s game, got through the seventh and eighth. Garcia gave up one run.
Even though the Angels had a five-run lead, closer Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth because he had not pitched in the previous four days and the Angels are off on Thursday.
Canning and the relievers had a cushion because the Angels jumped on Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn early.
Schanuel led off the game with his fourth homer.
Luis Guillorme, who was criticized by Washington for his failure to execute a suicide squeeze the previous night, dumped a single into left field. It was the first of his two hits, to go along with two walks.
An out later, Willie Calhoun drove him in with a double, which was the first of his three hits. Calhoun is hitting .319 in his first 12 games with the Angels.
Calhoun scored on Kevin Pillar’s infield hit. Pillar then scored on a wild pitch, giving the Angels a 4-0 lead.
Neto hit his fourth homer of the season in the sixth inning, putting the Angels up 5-1. An inning later Ward hit his eighth homer to pad the lead.
“It started with Schanuel,” Washington said. “We strung some hits together. We didn’t waver from the first inning till the end. It was a nice win for everyone.”
