sign in sign up
<<
Home , Mike Scioscia

April 5, 2016 Page 1 of 38

Clips

(April 5, 2016)

April 5, 2016 Page 2 of 38

Today’s Clips Contents

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 3)  Angels' Yunel Escobar is grateful for lessons learned from Cubs JoeMaddon  Unlike the Cubs, the Angels aren't projected to be very good this season  Angels skunked by Jake Arrieta and Cubs, 9-0, in season opener  Ji-Man Choi ready to show off his quirks

FROM THE OC REGISTER (Page 11)  Angels' to throw simulated game on Tuesday

 Angels Notes: Ji-Man Choi wanted to make it on his own  Cubs manager hopes process leads to the  Angels' C.J. Wilson still a month away from being able to pitch again  Angels pitcher Garrett Richards 'not discouraged at all' despite rough fourth inning  Miller: Cubs' Jake Arrieta aces out Angels in opener

FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 23)

 Richards' Opening Day start hits snag in fateful 4th  Angels' offense can't back Richards in opener  Wilson eyes new delivery, possible 'pen post  Choi, Bedrosian relish first taste of The Show  Lefties Heaney, Lester duel to wrap opening series

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 33)  Cubs open much-anticipated season with 9-0 win over Angels

FROM LA DAILY NEWS (PAGE 35)

 LA Angels: Five burning questions entering 2016 season

April 5, 2016 Page 3 of 38

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Angels' Yunel Escobar is grateful for lessons learned from Cubs Manager JoeMaddon

Mike DiGiovanna

Yunel Escobar's loyalties are with the Angels, who are relying on the new third baseman to provide solid defense and a high on-base percentage from the leadoff spot, but his heart strings were being tugged toward the opposing dugout Monday night.

"Joe Maddon, in baseball terms, was like my dad," Escobar, speaking through an interpreter, said of the manager. "My relationship with him is extraordinary. I'm very grateful for what he's done to help me improve."

Maddon spent 30 years in the Angels organization before moving on to manage Tampa Bay in 2006 and the Cubs in 2015, and the time and effort he invested in Escobar with the Rays in 2013 should benefit the Angels.

Escobar, 33, has been traded six times in 6 1/2 years, and not always because his new team was so eager to acquire him.

The Cuban native played his first four seasons (2007-10) in Atlanta, but his occasional lapses in effort and his flamboyant approach to the game reportedly rubbed the Braves the wrong way.

Though Escobar .291 with a .368 on-base percentage and showed flashes of brilliance at shortstop, the Braves traded him to Toronto in July 2010.

Escobar hit .272 with a .335 OBP in 2 1/2 seasons with the Blue Jays, but he hastened his exit by playing a game in September 2012 with a homophobic slur written in Spanish on his eye black.

Escobar apologized, but Toronto suspended him for three games without pay and traded him to Miami in November 2012. A month later, the Marlins dealt him to the Rays. Maddon immediately investigated the eye-black incident.

"Of course, it was his fault, but it wasn't entirely his fault," Maddon said. "If you're a good teammate, you don't let a guy go out on the field not knowing the impact of what he was doing. He had no idea that what he had written on his eye black was offensive."

From the beginning of through the end of the 2013 season, Maddon made a point of talking to Escobar every day. April 5, 2016 Page 4 of 38

He came to learn that the aggressive, even brash, way Escobar played was how he grew up playing in Cuba, and that Escobar wasn't trying to disrespect the game, even if his actions — like his flashy -play turns or his dramatic reaction to an umpire's call — sometimes showed otherwise.

"There is not a mean bone in that man's body," Maddon said. "It's just the emotional challenge of learning the language and culture of the U.S. and how you do things here, as opposed to how he did things [in Cuba], where he wasn't as scrutinized and where the lifestyle is different."

With mentoring from his manager, Escobar matured as a player and person and became more comfortable in the clubhouse.

"He helped me with preparation and the mental side of the game," Escobar said of Maddon. "And he gave me a lot of confidence, day in and day out."

Escobar's average (.257) and OBP (.328) dipped in two seasons at Tampa Bay, but Maddon said he played Gold Glove-caliber defense.

Escobar was traded to Washington in January 2015 and moved from shortstop to third base. He had one of his best offensive seasons, hitting .314 with a .375 OBP.

The Angels, in need of table-setters to hit in front of and Albert Pujols, traded promising young reliever Trevor Gott to Washington for Escobar in December.

Escobar, who is signed for $7 million this season with a $7-million team option for 2017, hit .450 with a .492 OBP in 20 spring games and did not strike out in 60 at-bats.

"He's a good contact hitter, I like his approach," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's not going to expand the strike zone very often. When he gets his pitch, he turns it loose and hits the ball hard. He's going to bring something very needed in our lineup."

Escobar has shown excellent range, athleticism and hands on defense, but has struggled at times to find the consistent arm slot for his throws to first base, which sometimes tail and dip into the dirt.

"He went through a time in spring where he had trouble finding his release point, but I think he's comfortable throwing the ball now," Scioscia said. "He has the potential to be a terrific defender."

April 5, 2016 Page 5 of 38

Unlike the Cubs, the Angels aren't projected to be very good this season

By Bill Shakin

The traveling road show that is the Chicago Cubs staged its debut performance in Anaheim on Monday. You could almost hear the carnival barker: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step right up and see baseball's best team!"

Believe the hype? The Cubs certainly don't shy from it.

Joe Maddon, the manager, fielded a stock question — about the Cubs playing with a target on their back — and turned it into a merchandising opportunity.

"The target is on the front," Maddon said with a smile.

Maddon coined the slogan "Embrace the Target," then slapped it on T-shirts for the players. As he reminded his large media audience, the T-shirts are on sale for $29.99 each, to benefit charity.

Best team in baseball? Bring it on.

"We are good," Maddon said in a conversation Sunday. "Our kids are good. I understand why people are saying what they're saying.

"False humility does nobody any good. I think we're confident without being arrogant. I think that's where the appeal is to fans in general."

Here we are, nine paragraphs into this column, and we haven't even discussed the Angels. It was opening night for the Angels, but the buzz was all about the visiting team.

The Cubs were cheered coming off the field after batting practice. A "Let's Go Cubs" chant erupted early in the evening, before Angels fans rallied to counter it with boos. When Miguel Montero homered in the sixth inning, padding the Cubs' lead in a 9-0 victory, Angels fans did not bother to counter the applause.

The first Cubs batter of the season, Dexter Fowler, doubled and scored. The Angels needed a left fielder. Fowler said he would have been interested but the Angels did not make him an offer.

The Angels never did sign a big free agent. They won 85 games last season. The Cubs won 97, then signed Jason Heyward, and Ben Zobrist. April 5, 2016 Page 6 of 38

In November, the Cubs were 11-1 to win the World Series, the Angels 20-1, according to the online bookmaker Bovada. By opening night — with no games played in between — the Cubs were 5-1 and the Angels 40-1.

ESPN asked 31 staffers to pick a winner in the . No one picked the Angels. It wasn't just an ESPN thing.

"Everybody ends up predicting the same version of whoever predicted first," Angels closer Huston Street said. "Someone probably came out and said we needed to sign a left fielder because of how poor our left-field production was last year, then we didn't. Then everybody quits thinking and just says, because they didn't sign one, they're not good.

"They just kind of copy and paste."

Baseball Prospectus projects the Angels to win 76 games. Fangraphs projects 82.

"We'll be way better than that," Street said. "I think that's ridiculous."

That may be, but the fan base is jaded. The Angels have sold 16,800 season tickets thus far, down slightly from last year, down 30% from 2012 and almost 50% from the record 31,000 in 2006.

"You lose a little bit of the excitement when you don't go out and get marquee players sometimes," Cubs David Ross said. "To me, that doesn't mean anything. Once the season starts, it's all about the game that day."

The Angels went out and got Albert Pujols in 2011, and Josh Hamilton in 2012. They have not won a postseason game since 2009. The Dodgers have won eight since then, even with their failure to advance to the World Series.

Funny thing is, the Angels used to be a team with all the expectations. They won the World Series in 2002. Then they won the AL West five times in six years, starting in 2004.

Maddon coached for the Angels then. He said the expectations are much weightier for the Cubs.

"We haven't done anything in 100 years," he said. "You have to earn that World Series hangover."

On Monday, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. In the Angels' first and so far last World Series, Anderson delivered the game-winning double in Game 7.

To Cubs fans, 14 years since the World Series is a blip. To Angels fans, it's quite a hangover. April 5, 2016 Page 7 of 38

Angels skunked by Jake Arrieta and Cubs, 9-0, in season opener

Had Monday's matchup between the Angels and the Chicago Cubs occurred two weeks into the regular season and not on opening night, Jake Arrieta would not have left the Angel Stadium mound for good after seven innings.

As it was, his early exit made the Angels' process of losing their opener a little less gruesome. But it was not as if the outcome could have been much worse. The Angels amassed only three hits in a 9-0 blowout defeat at the deft hands of Arrieta, who spotted fastballs on multiple corners throughout his night.

“Once I saw that 95 down and away to the righties called a strike, I knew it was over,” Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said.

Arrieta struck out six, walked one and yielded only two singles in his seven innings of dominance. The reigning National League Cy Young winner threw just 89 pitches before Maddon pulled him. There are many more starts to be made.

“That's the mind-set, the goal for me, every time I take the mound: to force contact early, put the hitters on the defensive,” Arrieta said. “If you throw quality pitches in the strike zone early on, you're going to make them swing the bats. With good location and movement, that's the results you expect.”

Arrieta went one four-inning stretch without allowing a ball to leave the infield, and did not throw more than four pitches in any at-bat until the fifth inning. He struck Mike Trout out swinging on a baffling changeup and a curveball after spotting fastballs for strikes.

“He was just painting,” Trout said.

His opponent was right-hander Garrett Richards, the man who will need to pitch like an ace for the Angels to contend this season. Richards gave up three runs and six hits in five innings, needing 97 pitches.

Richards' first pitch hit 97 mph, to Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler. His second pitch was laced down the right-field line for a double. Fowler scored on a single by Anthony Rizzo two batters later.

Kole Calhoun got the Angels' first hit of the season, a sharp single to right field in the second inning. Carlos Perez walked in the third inning, but he was erased on Johnny Giavotella fielder's choice, and Giavotella doubled off on Yunel Escobar's line drive to Ben Zobrist at second. April 5, 2016 Page 8 of 38

That was the Angels' last time on the bases until Daniel Nava flared a ball to shallow center leading off the seventh inning.

Richards ran into trouble in the fourth inning when he issued walks to Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant before inducing a routine grounder to first base from Kyle Schwarber.

Jorge Soler then ripped the second pitch he saw past Andrelton Simmons' glove at shortstop, and the Cubs had their second .

Miguel Montero hit a soft grounder to short, but Simmons, shifted toward second base, could only stop it from reaching the outfield, not get an out, and another run came in.

“We set the table a little too much for a great lineup,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Richards struck out Fowler to end the threat, but not before he threw 41 pitches in the inning. He had thrown 41 in the game's first three innings combined.

“I think, with the exception of the fourth inning, I was cruising,” Richards said.

Richards' 97th and final pitch of the night was clocked at 95 mph. Because of the fateful fourth, he was done after five innings, replaced by Fernando Salas, who yielded a two-run to Montero. In the ninth, Cory Rasmus permitted a three-run double to Matt Szczur.

Right-hander Cam Bedrosian, handling the seventh, loaded the bases for Bryant, who grounded one to Simmons' area again.

This time, the shortstop made his first highlight-reel play of the season, backhanding it, turning around to his arm side and delivering to second base for the force.

The last time the Angels were shut out on opening day was 2002, when Bartolo Colon threw a complete-game five-hitter as a Cleveland Indian. That season, of course, they won the World Series.

Ji-Man Choi ready to show off his quirks

By Pedro Moura

When a ball skips past him in pregame warmups, he laughs. When a pitch is called a ball that might actually have been a strike, he smiles.

Ji-Man Choi's next at-bat will be his first in the major leagues, and it should not take long for the Angels reserve first baseman to become known for his unusual antics. April 5, 2016 Page 9 of 38

The 24-year-old South Korean is one of the more demonstrative major league players in recent memory.

“I do it on purpose,” Choi said through interpreter Jae Park. “I just want to confuse the pitchers.”

American baseball customs are far more subdued than in Choi's home country, where professional players often flip their bats to celebrate home runs.

Choi, a Rule 5 selection, won a spot on the Angels' 25-man roster despite a so-so spring at the plate. He flashed power and on-base skills but also a penchant for striking out.

The Angels tried him in left field several times in the spring and his defense there was worrisome. His abilities at first base are clearer, but Choi is on the team to hit more than anything else. He scrapped switch-hitting in the spring and will bat left-handed as an Angel.

In parts of five minor league seasons, he has hit .302 with a .404 on-base percentage and .481 slugging mark. And he reacted outwardly throughout his rise up the minor leagues.

“By showing expression, I'm able to see how pitchers will throw the ball,” Choi said. “That's the main reason why I do it.”

Wilson a ‘B-plus'

C.J. Wilson said he passed all but one of the strength tests the Angels training staff conducted over the weekend. His resistance to force at various arm angles was examined and measured.

“I guess I got like a B-plus on it, not an A-plus, and they want me to get an A-plus before they let me loose,” he said. “It's progress.”

Because of shoulder tendinitis, the 35-year-old left-hander has not thrown off a mound in more than three weeks and has not thrown at all in about two weeks after sitting out the final two months of last season. Once he is cleared to resume a throwing program, Wilson said, it will take at least him a month to return to the majors.

Wilson will use an altered delivery from what he most often employed during six prior seasons as a starting pitcher. In the spring, he described it as “completely different.”

Monday, he was more conservative with his description.

“It's not going to be like Joe Smith,” he said ,referring to the Angels' sidearm reliever. “But it might be more like [Andrew] Heaney. Just a little bit lower arm angle, a little bit more across my body. It's all conceptual at this point, though.” April 5, 2016 Page 10 of 38

The little throwing he did with this delivery was comfortable, Wilson said.

During last week's at Dodger Stadium, Wilson inadvertently tested the arm by throwing a ball to a fan.

“I chucked it up there about 100 feet, so that was cool,” he said. “And then I was like, ‘Wait a second, I don't think I was green-lit to do that.'”

Short hops

Left-hander Tyler Skaggs, returning from Tommy John surgery, will start the first game of - A Salt Lake's season Thursday at Sacramento. He is scheduled to throw four innings. … Right- hander Jered Weaver will throw a four-inning simulated game Tuesday at Angel Stadium. By Wednesday's off day, the Angels will determine when Weaver will make his regular-season debut. … Former Angels outfielder Garret Anderson threw out the first pitch Monday

Season opener in Angel Stadium is homecoming night for Cubs Manager Joe Maddon

By Mike DiGiovanna

Opening day in Angel Stadium was also old home week for Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon, who spent 30 years in the Angels' organization, including 12 years (1994-2005) as a big league , before leaving to manage the in 2006 and the Cubs in 2015.

In the opposing dugout Monday night was Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, a fellow Pennsylvania native of Italian-American heritage who retained Maddon as his bench coach in 2000 and won a World Series with him at his side two years later.

In his media scrum in the visiting dugout before the game was former Angels outfielder and current Fox Sports analyst , whom Maddon managed in the minor leagues and coached in the big leagues.

And above the right-field bleachers was the retired No. 50 of Jimmie Reese, the beloved former Angels coach who spent 22 years with the club, fungo bat always in hand, before his death at the age of 93 in 1994.

“He was everybody’s best friend, and he treated me so well,” Maddon said of Reese. “There were so many moments where he would put his hands on my shoulders, look me right in the eye and say, ‘You’re the master.’ April 5, 2016 Page 11 of 38

“He loved the way I coached. He told me that all the time. He said, ‘One day, you’re going to be a big league manager.’ He told me that back in the 1980s.”

Did Maddon believe him?

“I did,” he said. “I just didn’t know when it would happen.”

Not only was Reese right about Maddon, but Maddon has become one of the best and most respected managers in baseball, leading the Rays to the 2008 World Series and the Cubs to a 97-65 record and the National League division series in 2015.

The Cubs, after signing right fielder Jason Heyward, second baseman Ben Zobrist and veteran pitcher John Lackey over the winter, are a popular pick to reach the World Series this season, raising the hopes of fans who are hungry for a 107-year World Series title drought to end.

The hype surrounding the club has also put something of a target on the backs of the Cubs, but Maddon doesn’t mind.

“It’s a good thing, it means that we are good,” Maddon said. “I think it should be motivational. I would not want to be picked to finish last and have nothing surrounding us and nobody showing up, playing in front of crowds of 10,000, so I think our guys embrace being a target.”

FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Angels' Jered Weaver to throw simulated game on Tuesday

By JEFF FLETCHER / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – Jered Weaver has one more test to pass before he can start his 2016 season.

On Tuesday, Weaver will throw four innings in a simulated game. It will be his second consecutive controlled outing, and the third in his last four, while he works his way back from a neck issue that interrupted his spring training.

“We definitely want to see how he feels,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “How he’s locating his pitches. He felt great last workout (a minor league game on Wednesday), so we don’t anticipate any setbacks.” April 5, 2016 Page 12 of 38

If Weaver comes through that workout without any issues, the Angels could slip him back into the rotation either Sunday, the final game of the series in Anaheim, or Monday, the first game of a series in Oakland.

The Angels haven’t announced their starters for the rest of the games against Texas, but it is likely that Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker would pitch on Thursday and Friday, followed by Garrett Richards returning on Saturday. If Weaver doesn’t pitch on Sunday, it would be Andrew Heaney

Angels Notes: Ji-Man Choi wanted to make it on his own

By JEFF FLETCHER / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM -- Ji-Man Choi came into camp with a leg up on the Angels' final bench spot, because of his skill set and also because he was a Rule 5 pick who may not have been able to be sent to the minors.

Choi, however, didn’t want the roster restriction be the reason he made the team.

“I wanted to make it based on how I did in spring training,” Choi said Monday, his first day on a major league roster.

Choi said he “had no clue,” whether he would make the team. “I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make the team, but here I am.”

Choi made it because he’s a left-handed hitter who can get on base, and also a good defensive first baseman to back up C.J. Cron.

He is the second Rule 5 pick to make the team in the past two years. Last year the Angels kept Taylor Featherston all season.

By keeping Choi, the Angels also are keeping Jae Park, his Korean interpreter. Park will stick close to Choi, even in the dugout during games, to translate for him.

ALSO April 5, 2016 Page 13 of 38

The Angels finished spring training going 16-2-5 in their last 23 games. ...

Garret Anderson, the Angels' all-time leader in hits, threw out the first pitch before Monday’s opener. ...

The Angels and Cubs were set to play just the fifth opening day interleague game in baseball history, and the Angels also played the first. They opened the 2013 season in Cincinnati. Until 2013, there were an even number of teams in both leagues, so interleague games were all contained during a few stretches of the season. Since the moved to the American League in 2013, there has to be at least one interleague series at all times.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon hopes process leads to the World Series

By JOEY KAUFMAN / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – Early on, it looked like a reunion.

As the Angels and the visiting Chicago Cubs went through batting practice before they opened their regular-season series Monday night at Angel Stadium, Joe Maddon was catching up.

The former Angels bench coach greeted his old boss, Mike Scioscia. He ran into two former players, Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson, the latter of whom was there to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. He shook hands with club officials. He smiled. He laughed. He joked. He reminisced.

“Joe’s a friend first, to all of us,” Scioscia said. “He’s just a great guy, the wealth of knowledge. We have a lot of fun. We would joke around. One thing for all of us is we love this game with a passion.”

Maddon was a member of the Angels coaching staff from 1993-2005, with the last six seasons as the bench coach under Scioscia, staying aboard shortly after he was hired as manager in the fall of 1999. April 5, 2016 Page 14 of 38

“We hit it off,” Maddon said, pointing to his shared heritage with Scioscia, raised in Italian- American families in eastern Pennsylvania towns less than 100 miles apart.

“The humor is the same. We watch the same TV programs. We laugh at the same stuff. All that stuff really meshed.”

Seventeen years since their first season together, Maddon faces a job as pressure-packed as any in baseball.

Chicago, which has not won the World Series since 1908 – the longest drought in the sport – emerged as the favorite to do so after winning 97 games a season ago and advancing to the National League Championship Series as one of the youngest teams. Those hopes were only buoyed after they signed outfielder Jason Heyward in the offseason and added another arm, John Lackey, to the pitching rotation. And Maddon has not exactly downplayed them.

“We have high expectations for ourselves,” he said. “At the end of the day, man, I think they should be motivational. I would not want to be picked to be in last place.”

There seems to be little angst around his team, one that follows the lead of Maddon.

At spring training in Mesa, Ariz., last month, real, live bear cubs were brought to the team complex, keeping the mood light.

When Maddon arrived Sunday for an exhibition game at his old roost, he walked around the stadium in a white T-shirt sporting his favorite motivational phrase, “The Process Is Fearless,” in teal and yellow letters.

“The process is fearless, because I don't want to spend time on the outcome,” Maddon said. “For me, it’s really about staying in the moment and not worrying about the outcome of the game or managing toward the outcome. It doesn't do anybody any good.”

Maddon has done this before, bringing the small-budgeted Tampa Bay Rays to the Fall Classic in 2008, when they fell in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies. And he was right with Scioscia when the Angels won the World Series in 2002. April 5, 2016 Page 15 of 38

But even with the Cubs’ sights set on October, with little hesitation, Maddon is circling back to his process. That, he says, may end their drought.

“At this time of the year, with me and the players, we’re going to be process-oriented, pitch by pitch,” he said. “That’s the one that really gets you to the promised land. ‘The process is fearless,’ to me, is about that the process lacks emotion. And if you can keep emotion out of there, just go out there and play, avoid the ups and the downs, that’s your best chance to come back late, it’s your best chance to hold on to something late. That’s the part we try to get across to them.”

Angels' C.J. Wilson still a month away from being able to pitch again

By JEFF FLETCHER / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – C.J. Wilson is still waiting for the green light to, essentially, start his spring training over.

Wilson, who has battled shoulder trouble since the start of spring training, said Monday he’s still in a holding pattern because he didn’t pass the strength test doctors administered over the weekend.

“I got a B-plus and they wanted me to get an A-plus before they let me loose,” Wilson said. “It’s progress.”

In order to regain that strength, Wilson is doing a grueling routine of shoulder exercises that he called “more aggressive than any rehab protocol I’ve been on for any of my previous rehabs.” He added that when he looks in a mirror he can see a difference in the size of his shoulders from just three weeks ago.

The workout routine is the latest effort to get him back on a mound, after the discomfort led to him being shut down on three separate occasions.

Once Wilson goes get the green light to begin throwing, he will basically be where other pitchers are at the start of spring training, if not earlier. April 5, 2016 Page 16 of 38

“I’m imagining it’s going to take at least a month, just like it would for anyone else,” Wilson said.

And when he does come back, he’s going to be doing so with a different release point. Although Wilson earlier described a dramatic change, he now says it’s just a matter of lowering his release point to a spot he had thrown from sporadically before.

In the couple days he was trying to throw from that release point before his most recent shutdown, he said he was happy enough with the results that he’s confident he can be effective.

“I felt like I could unload the ball and it was coming out pretty well,” he said.

In the meantime, the Angels still have no idea what they will get from the 35-year-old Wilson in the final year of his contract.

Wilson actually hasn’t ruled out coming back as a reliever.

“I think about that all the time,” he said. “I just need to see how this rehabilitation process plays out and see how it affects me. If I come back and have this electric stuff from down here but I can only throw 30 pitches, it’s pretty clear I can help the team as a reliever.”

What he won’t do, however, is come back before he’s 100 percent. He said he’s done that enough, including pitching last year with a sore elbow that led to this shoulder problem. He did the same thing in the second half of 2012, and the results weren’t good.

“Professional athletes never learn their lesson,” he said. “The stove is hot and we keep touching it because we’re trying to win.”

April 5, 2016 Page 17 of 38

Angels pitcher Garrett Richards 'not discouraged at all' despite rough fourth inning

By JEFF FLETCHER / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – Garrett Richards fired pitch after pitch, good ones, to Miguel Montero, but he just couldn’t get the Chicago Cubs catcher out.

Finally, on the ninth pitch of their pivotal fourth-inning duel, Montero hit a little ground ball to exactly the place the Angels didn’t think he’d hit it.

The ground ball to short – with shortstop Andrelton Simmons playing on the other side of the bag in a shift – ended up being a hit, driving in a run, and driving a stake into Richards’ first opening day start.

“I thought I had good stuff tonight,” Richards said. “They just happened to put the ball where we weren’t.”

Although the Angels’ inability to hit Jake Arrieta and the bullpen’s inability to keep the deficit at a manageable number turned the game into a rout, Richards nonetheless came up short of expectations in Monday’s 9-0 opening day loss.

Richards gave up three runs in five innings, an outing that looks worse than it really was because of one frustrating inning.

Richards needed 41 pitches to get through the first three innings, in which he allowed one run and struck out five.

He needed 41 pitches to get through the fourth inning, in which he gave up two more runs.

“With the exception of the fourth inning, I think I was cruising,” said Richards, who tacked on a quick fifth inning. “I feel confident in my stuff. ... I’m not April 5, 2016 Page 18 of 38

discouraged at all. I put my stuff up against anyone in this league. I feel confident about that.”

The problem for Richards on Monday was that the Cubs ran up his pitch-count in a few key at-bats. He also barely missed getting a called third strike to Kris Bryant, who he ended up walking on a 3-2 pitch.

It was the second of back-to-back walks to start the fourth, and both runners came around to score.

“We set the table a little too much for a good lineup,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, “and didn’t get away with it.”

Miller: Cubs' Jake Arrieta aces out Angels in opener

By JEFF MILLER / STAFF COLUMNIST

ANAHEIM – A short time before the first pitch of the season Monday, I noticed a bat in the Angels’ dugout that had this etched into the knob end: “02/24/16.”

I’m assuming that’s when the bat was manufactured, although, a few hours later, I was wondering if it instead might be an expiration date.

An offense spoiled and gone completely sour ... that’s what can happen when facing a pitcher like Jake Arrieta.

Folks, the projections were correct. There was no way Arrieta could start this season by matching what he did to finish last season.

No, he was even better, his seven shutout innings leading the Chicago Cubs to a 9-0 victory that ruined opening day locally and launched even more belief in a team trying to undo more than a century’s worth of stinking. April 5, 2016 Page 19 of 38

The reigning National League winner, Arrieta again pitched like old Cy himself. Or at least someone from the “dead-ball era,” the Angels hitters, when they did make contact, appearing to be striking the rosin bag.

Arrieta allowed only two singles and one walk and needed just 89 pitches to silence an Angels offense that spent much of spring training punishing the pitching over in Arizona.

All those nice statistics, which didn’t count at the time, somehow meant even less Monday. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols: 0 for 6 against Arrieta with three .

And speaking of numbers, Arrieta exited with a perfect ERA of 0.00, after producing a 0.41 mark over the final two months of last season, a performance of historical standards.

In the Cubs, the Angels are seeing the runaway choice to win the World Series, something completely unfamiliar to anyone under the age of 118 or so.

The franchise’s most recent World Series title came 108 years ago, back when baseball was still more popular than football, due largely to the fact that the forward pass had just come to be and no one yet had invented the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

So, in 1908, you probably would have had to have been about 10 years old to remember the Cubs beating the Detroit Tigers behind a three-fingered pitcher named Mordecai Brown.

Yeah, it was a different era back then and, if you don’t believe me, consider that the deciding game in that series attracted a crowd of 6,210 and took 1 hour, 25 minutes to complete or roughly the time today’s game dedicates to Viagra commercials.

The Cubs as World Series favorites? Believe it because the Cubs certainly do. “Embrace the Target” was the message Manager Joe Maddon delivered when springing training opened, the words now found walking around on T-shirts inside Chicago’s clubhouse.

“We have high expectations for ourselves,” Arrieta told reporters last week. “Within the team we know that everybody expects big things for us. We do, as well.” April 5, 2016 Page 20 of 38

Things clearly are different these days, too. But, hey, hot dogs at Burger King? Gyros at Arby’s? These are crazy and changing times, people. Heck, I can remember way back to the days when it seemed ridiculous to bring your dog into the grocery store. Can you imagine?

On the losing end specifically Monday was Garrett Richards, who had the credentials to make the first opening day start of his career but not the foresight to avoid Arrieta in doing so.

Richards’ second pitch of the game was driven by Dexter Fowler into right field for a double. Later in the first inning, he permitted a two-out, run-scoring single to Anthony Rizzo, and the Cubs were on their way.

I’ve long believed Richards has the ability – he hit 100 mph in a spring training game a few weeks ago – and stubbornness to be an ace. But when Angels general manager Billy Eppler made that same declaration in the winter his words became headlines.

At mlb.com this spring, Richards was labeled no better than the Angels’ “de facto ace,” de facto being a Latin term that, loosely translated, means “not .”

Yahoo! Sports ranked Richards No. 22 of the 30 opening day starters, behind, among others, Ervin Santana and Tyson Ross, who’s 20 games below .500 for his career and started for San Diego on Monday in a game that ended with the Dodgers scoring 15 times.

Personally, I’d say 22nd was a little harsh for Richards, but then I don’t work for Yahoo! Sports, an organization obviously prone to exaggeration given its gratuitous use of the exclamation point.

Richards did manage to escape trouble in the third inning Monday before running into more issues in the fourth, surrendering RBI singles to Jorge Soler and Miguel Montero, the latter barely making it beyond the infield.

In all, Richards lasted five so-so innings that, when compared to what his Cubs counterpart did, looked more like five no-go innings. April 5, 2016 Page 21 of 38

Richards, in his opening day debut, just wasn’t good enough on a night when the Angels starter needed to be spectacular just to give his team a chance to reach extra innings.

Oh, well, 161 to go, nearly every one of which should come against a pitcher not as good as Jake Arrieta was Monday.

Angels lineup shoots blanks against Cubs' Jake Arrieta

By JEFF FLETCHER / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – Jake Arrieta sure knows how to ruin a party.

The Angels opened their season with all the customary excitement – players trotting out to the foul lines for introductions, an enormous American flag, a military flyover – only to see the celebration muted by the Chicago Cubs ace.

Arrieta, the reigning Cy Young winner in the National League, picked up where he left off last season, at the expense of the Angels.

The Angels managed just two hits in seven innings against Arrieta in a 9-0 loss, disappointing an Angel Stadium sellout crowd of 44,020 on Monday night.

By the time the Angels bullpen had allowed six runs, resulting in the most lopsided opening day loss in Angels history, it looked like a simple blowout.

However, all of that did little to detract from the fact that, no matter how many runs the Angels allowed, they obviously had no chance to win if they couldn’t score.

So much for a .310 batting average in spring training.

Of course, hot hitting in spring training means exactly zero when the season begins. April 5, 2016 Page 22 of 38

That’s particularly true when the beginning of the season brings an opponent like Arrieta, whose 1.77 ERA last year was enough for him to wrest the Cy Young Award from Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.

“Jake Arrieta is a legitimate No. 1,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He showed it last year and he picked up this year. We didn’t get too many looks at him.”

Kole Calhoun lined a clean single to right against Arrieta in the second and Daniel Nava dropped a bloop single just out of the reach of Dexter Fowler in the seventh, and that was the extent of the Angels’ offense. They didn’t get a runner to second against Arrieta.

“He was just painting,” Mike Trout said. “He’s got good stuff. He was locating well, working in and out. Had his off-speed working.”

Because the Angels were facing Arrieta in Game 1, it’s perhaps not quite fair to read too much into whether their revamped lineup will indeed be better than the one that was 12th among 15 American League teams in runs last year.

Although they didn’t add any marquee names to the mix to try to improve, they had hoped that the additions of Yunel Escobar and Nava at the top of the lineup would create some traffic on the bases ahead of Trout and Albert Pujols.

Escobar got ahead of Arrieta, 2-0, in the Angels’ first plate appearance of the season, but then he tapped out weakly to the mound.

An ominous start, and a sign of what was to come.

“We’re not going to win when we don’t get hits,” Trout said. “That’s just the way it was tonight.”

It doesn’t get much easier Tuesday, when the Angels are set to face lefty Jon Lester. Still, major leaguers are trained not to have a hangover from one bad game, particularly against a premier pitcher. April 5, 2016 Page 23 of 38

“We can’t hang our heads,” Trout said. “We’ve got another game tomorrow. We’ll come in with a positive attitude and turn the page.”

FROM ANGELS.COM

Richards' Opening Day start hits snag in fateful 4th

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- An 0-2 fastball missed by an inch, a soft grounder rolled through a vacant infield, a double-play ball was botched and so the top of the fourth inning continued to drag on Monday night, seemingly forever but really for 41 pitches.

It gave the Cubs two additional runs, emboldened their starter, Jake Arrieta, fatigued their opponent, Garrett Richards, and proved to be the main culprit in the Angels' deflating 9-0 loss on Opening Day.

"With the exception of that fourth inning," Richards said, "I was cruising."

Richards' first three innings saw him generate 10 swinging strikes and hit 98 mph on the radar gun nine times, not to mention one pitch that was clocked at 99. The Cubs led the Majors in strikeouts last year, by a wide margin, but they were also the best in the game at prolonging at- bats, taking close pitches and shortening the outings of some of the best starting pitchers.

By the fourth, Richards started to feel that.

"We've got to wear them down," Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler said. "That's a good pitcher out there who has good stuff."

Richards had Kris Bryant behind in the count, 0-2, when he just barely missed with a fastball on the outside corner.

"I thought it was there," Richards said. "I thought it was close." April 5, 2016 Page 24 of 38

The next three were also balls, putting two on with none out. Richards then got Kyle Schwarber to hit a sharp ground ball to the right side, but received only one out from it because first baseman C.J. Cron bobbled an initial attempt to throw to second base. Jorge Soler followed with an RBI single to left field, and then came Miguel Montero.

The Cubs' catcher fell behind in the count, 1-2, fouled off back-to-back sliders, took another one for a ball, fouled off a fastball and took another ball to run the count full. The next pitch, at 96 mph, would've been a harmless ground ball if the shortstop, Andrelton Simmons, were stationed normally.

But the Angels were shifting the left-handed-hitting Montero to pull, and Simmons was too far to the right side to get to it in time.

"Good at-bat, I guess," Richards said. "I beat him on a fastball down and away, and he happened to beat it through the six-hole."

Richards' first Opening Day start lasted only five innings and 97 pitches. He scattered six hits, walked three, struck out seven and was no match for a dominant Arrieta, who allowed three baserunners in seven innings.

Richards said he didn't get tired in that fourth.

"I feel good from one to 100," Richards said. "I don't feel like I get tired at all."

And no, he wasn't nervous when it all began.

"I treated it like it was just Game 1 of 162, which is exactly what it is," he said.

Bad as it was -- it was the first time the Angels had been shut out on Opening Day in 14 years -- it's merely 0.6 percent of the season, a loss against one of the game's finest pitchers and the prohibitive World Series favorites. April 5, 2016 Page 25 of 38

"Long season," Mike Trout said. "You can't put your head down for one game."

Richards extracted positives from it, too, because his two fastballs were lively, his slider was sharp and his changeup, the pitch he finally grasped in Spring Training, felt good. He threw nine of those changeups, upwards of 92 mph, after only throwing one last year.

"I'm not discouraged at all," Richards said. "I put my stuff up against anybody in this league, and I feel confident about that."

Angels' offense can't back Richards in opener

By Alden Gonzalez and Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Jake Arrieta was deemed the National League's best pitcher last year, capturing the Cy Young Award despite sensational -- not to mention historic -- seasons from Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. And on Monday night, in the first game of the 2016 season, the Angels found out why.

Arrieta easily carved his way through their lineup with seven masterful innings, allowing only three baserunners while outdueling Garrett Richards, leading his Cubs to a 9-0 victory and spoiling Opening Day for a sold-out Angel Stadium crowd.

"We set the tone very nicely for ourselves," said Arrieta, who threw a no-hitter the last time he pitched in , on Aug. 30, 2015, at Dodger Stadium.

"Jake Arrieta is a legitimate No. 1," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He showed it last year, and he picked it up this year again. We didn't get too many looks at him."

Arrieta gave up only two hits, walked a batter, struck out six and needed just 89 pitches to record 21 outs. From the start of the third to the end of the sixth, he didn't allow a ball out of the infield. He faced two over the minimum, never once pitched with a runner in scoring position and struck out Mike Trout twice. He was just as dominant as he was throughout 2015, a season that saw him win 22 games, post a 1.77 ERA and give up a Major League-low 5.9 hits per nine innings. April 5, 2016 Page 26 of 38

Speaking days before Opening Day, Arrieta said it's "probably not realistic" to expect him to repeat those numbers in 2016.

"But they're going to be good," Arrieta said. "I know that."

He's off to a good start.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED You go, we go: Dexter Fowler showed how valuable he is at the top of the Cubs order when he doubled to lead off the game, and scored two outs later on Anthony Rizzo's single. Fowler finished 3-for-4 and also drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, scoring three runs. Before Fowler rejoined the Cubs, Jason Heyward was projected as a potential lead-off man.Before each at-bat, manager Joe Maddon gave Fowler the same message he did last year, "You go, we go." More >

Patience at the plate: The Cubs led the NL in pitches per plate appearance last season, and picked up where they left off in the fourth inning. Rizzo and Kris Bryant both walked, moved up on Kyle Schwarber's groundout and then Jorge Soler and Miguel Montero hit back-to-back RBI singles. The Cubs made Richards work; five of the seven batters that inning worked their at-bats to three-ball counts.

"I threw some really good pitches that they fouled off," Richards said. "They had long at-bats. That got my pitch count up, which got me out of the game early."

The little things: Richards had several opportunities to escape that gamebreaking fourth inning with minimal damage, some of which was out of his control. With one on and none out, he had Bryant behind, 0-2, then barely missed on an outside-corner fastball and threw three more balls. Schwarber hit a hard grounder that could've been a double play, but first baseman C.J. Cron bobbled it initially and settled for an out at first. Soler's hit was a grounder to the left side that went against the shift. More >

Shoddy bullpen work: It was only a three-run game when Richards exited after five innings, his pitch count already at 97. But Salas served up a two-run homer to Montero in the sixth, Cam April 5, 2016 Page 27 of 38

Bedrosian gave up another run in a long seventh inning and Cory Rasmus surrendered a two- out, three-run double in the ninth to reserve outfielder Matt Szczur, whose alma mater, Villanova, had just won the NCAA Tournament.

QUOTABLE "We had a good spring; we can't bury our heads. We have a game tomorrow. We'll come in with a positive attitude, positive mind, and turn the page." -- Trout, on not letting a lopsided loss affect his team

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Arrieta extended his streak of consecutive quality starts with at least four strikeouts to 21, which ties Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez and Bob Gibson for the longest such streak in the Major Leagues since 1920.

The Angels had never lost by more than seven runs on Opening Day. The last time they lost by seven, though, was 2014, when they finished with 98 wins. Monday also marked their first time being shut out on Opening Day since 2002 -- the year they won the World Series.

WHAT'S NEXT Cubs: Jon Lester will make his season debut on Tuesday in the series finale of this brief Interleague meeting. Lester has a career 4-4 record and 3.93 ERA in 11 starts against the Angels. He'll be paired with catcher David Ross, who is retiring after this year. First pitch will be 9:05 p.m. CT.

Angels: Fellow lefty Andrew Heaney opposes Lester, looking to build on a solid rookie season that saw him post a 3.49 ERA in 105 2/3 innings. Heaney was named the No. 2 starter out of default, because Tyler Skaggs , C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver weren't ready by Opening Day. But he had a 2.25 ERA in five Spring Training starts. April 5, 2016 Page 28 of 38

Wilson eyes new delivery, possible 'pen post

Angels veteran (shoulder) awaits green light to begin throwing

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- C.J. Wilson spotted an Angels fan deep in the bleachers at Dodger Stadium the other day and flung a baseball in that direction, representing the only kind of throwing his left arm had done in about two weeks.

"Chucked it up a hundred feet, so, that was cool," Wilson said, proudly. "Then I thought about it and was like, 'Wait a second, I don't think I was green-lit to do that.'"

Not quite.

Wilson, navigating through shoulder tendinitis that will make him drop his arm slot when he does resume throwing, recently had his strength evaluated but didn't necessarily pass. He was hooked up to a machine that tested his resistance with different hand positions and excelled from all but one position with his left arm.

"I guess I got a B-plus on it, not an A-plus," Wilson said. "They want me to get an A-plus before they let me loose."

"Let me loose" means restart a throwing program, which could happen before the end of the week. At that point, Wilson estimated needing "at least" a month to prepare himself to complete all the steps that will allow him to pitch in Major League games, though that process usually takes a little longer for somebody who starts from scratch.

Wilson called this "the weirdest Opening Day in 10 years for me."

He's 35, entering his 12th year in the big leagues and probably his last with the Angels, and dealing with shoulder tendinitis that will, in some ways, make him a different pitcher. Wilson is April 5, 2016 Page 29 of 38 set to make $20 million in his final year before free agency and is open to pitching out of the bullpen when he does return, though that remains an unlikely outcome.

"Totally," Wilson said of being a reliever again. "I think about that all the time. I just need to see how this rehabilitation process plays out, see how this affects me."

Wilson reported to camp without restrictions, felt pain in his first bullpen session under the Angels' watch, got shut down, experienced pain in another bullpen session about 12 days into March, limited himself to only playing catch, and then stopped playing catch altogether about 14 days ago.

"The biggest problem is, I go out there, and I'm not truly ready to go out there physically, from the strength perspective, then it's going to be a setback," Wilson said. "There's no point in doing that."

Wilson has repeatedly said he spent the first four months of last season defying doctors' orders and pitching through elbow issues, prompting him to get loose bodies removed and bone spurs shaved down around the middle of August. He compensated for a tender left elbow with his left shoulder, a part of his body that hardly ever gave him trouble.

"Here I am, being penalized for that a little bit," Wilson said. "I didn't really anticipate it was going to create this big of an issue."

The rehabilitative program the Angels have Wilson on is "more aggressive than any rehab protocol I've ever been in on any of the injuries I've had." He's doing shoulder exercises six days a week, as opposed to the usual two.

His new arm slot will be lower, but not drastically so. Think Andrew Heaney, not Joe Smith, Wilson said. He pitched like that intermittently at times to confuse hitters, especially when he was closing games for the Rangers. Before getting shut down the last time, Wilson threw sliders, changeups, cutters and sinkers in front of Angels coaches from that arm slot. April 5, 2016 Page 30 of 38

He doesn't consider it a major adjustment.

"What's the big issue?" Wilson asked. "I've been throwing from different arm slots my whole life."

Choi, Bedrosian relish first taste of The Show

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Every text message Cam Bedrosian receives from his father, Steve, the former Cy Young Award-winning closer, ends similarly.

Keep pushing, Big Leaguer.

Hang in there, Big Leaguer.

Congratulations, Big Leaguer.

It didn't matter if Bedrosian was stuck in the Minor Leagues in the summer or a perceived longshot for the Angels' bullpen in Spring Training. To Steve, Cam is always "big leaguer."

"He just wants to keep reminding me that I'm here for a reason," the younger Bedrosian said. "He does it all the time."

received news that he had won the final spot in the bullpen and cracked his first Opening Day roster. Angels manager Mike Scioscia told him casually as he walked down the hallway with fellow reliever Mike Morin after Saturday's exhibition game against the Dodgers.

The final bench spot went to first baseman Ji-Man Choi, the Rule 5 Draft pick who will serve as a lefty pinch-hitter, defensive replacement and occasional starter. April 5, 2016 Page 31 of 38

Choi was signed out of high school in South Korea and made his professional debut as a 19- year-old in the Mariners' system in 2010, finishing the season as the organization's Offensive Player of the Year. But he was docked 50 games after testing positive for a performance- enhancing substance in '14 and was limited to 23 games because of a broken leg in '15.

"If it wasn't for the surgeries, I might have made it to the big leagues earlier," Choi said through his interpreter, Jae Park.

His family, back in South Korea, wasn't surpised when Choi called to tell them he made the team on Saturday.

"One of the Korean newspapers reported it before it happened," he said. "They already knew."

Bedrosian -- 24 years old, just like Choi -- has a 5.81 ERA in 51 Major League appearances over the last two years. He entered this season focused on getting ahead of hitters and sharpening his breaking ball, a pitch he helped refine while playing catch with his father over the offseason.

That pitch -- thrown with the mentality of a slider, but resembling something of a slurve -- is "a lot" better now, Bedrosian said.

"Especially from when I came up two years ago," he added. "Two years ago, it was good. And then I just kind of lost it. I don't know why."

Worth noting

• Jered Weaver is slated to throw about four innings in a simulated game at Angel Stadium on Tuesday, his presumed final step before getting cleared to pitch in games. Weaver could then start Sunday, at home against the Rangers, or next Monday, in Oakland. April 5, 2016 Page 32 of 38

• Albert Pujols started at designated hitter on Opening Day for the first time in his career on Monday. Pujols entered the spring coming off November foot surgery and the Angels said throughout they would be cautious with his time at first base. Pujols played just two spring games there.

Lefties Heaney, Lester duel to wrap opening series

By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- A year ago, Jon Lester was still trying to get to know everyone's names on the Cubs. Now, the left-hander can take a deep breath as he makes his first start of the regular season Tuesday night facing the Angels' young lefty Andrew Heaney.

Heaney, 24, is coming off a 3.49 ERA in 18 starts in his rookie season. The lefty was pretty much a lock to crack the rotation in Spring Training, but moved to the No. 2 slot with Tyler Skaggs not ready to come back from Tommy John, C.J. Wilson starting the year on the disabled list, and Jered Weaver throwing 80 mph.

Heaney has 135 career innings over two years, and those numbers would be considered an off year for Lester, 32, who has totaled 200 innings in seven of his last eight seasons (and missed doing so in 2011 by 8 1/3 innings).

Heaney has never faced any of the Cubs. Chicago ranked 12th in the National League last season against left-handed pitching, batting a collective .238. Anthony Rizzo defied the sabermaticians and batted .294 against southpaws (compared to .272 vs. right-handers).

This isn't the last meeting between these two teams. They'll square off again Aug. 9-10 at Wrigley Field and play under National League rules.

What to watch for: April 5, 2016 Page 33 of 38

• With Lester starting, the Angels will switch up their lineup. Right-handed-hitting Craig Gentry will replace Daniel Nava in left field and may bat second. Kole Calhoun will probably move from fifth to sixth.

• Albert Pujols has hit 56 career home runs against the Cubs, his most against any opponent. Of course, most of those came when he was with the Cardinals. He's ninth on the all-time home run list against the Cubs, with eight Hall of Famers ahead of him.

• Chicago catcher David Ross, 39, who has announced he's retiring after this season, will be paired up with Lester. Ross enters this season needing four home runs to finish with 100 in his career.

• The 2015 season was the year of the rookie for the Cubs, with Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber making their Major League debuts, and Bryant winning National League Rookie of the Year honors. This season, the Cubs begin without a rookie on the Opening Day roster. According to baseball historian Ed Hartig, a rookie has been on the Opening Day roster in 15 of the last 20 seasons. The exceptions include 1996, '99, 2002, '07 and '12.

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cubs open much-anticipated season with 9-0 win over Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Thousands of Chicago Cubs fans filled the stands at Angel Stadium with raucous chants and cheers, the usual optimism of opening day compounded by unusual excitement for their talent-laden team.

Jake Arrieta and his lineup of heavy hitters gave those fans every reason to hope they had just watched the start of something special.

Arrieta yielded two hits over seven dominant innings, Miguel Montero homered and drove in three runs, and the Cubs began a season of high expectations with a 9-0 victory over the on Monday night.

"I think we set the tone pretty nicely for ourselves," Arrieta said.

Anthony Rizzo and Jorge Soler drove in early runs and Villanova product Matt Szczur added a three-run double in the ninth for the Cubs, who excelled in every area. Chicago couldn't wait to get going again after an exciting 97-win season ended with a dismal four-game loss to the Mets in the NL Championship Series last fall. April 5, 2016 Page 34 of 38

"We've prepared for this for a long time," said Arrieta, who has a 29-inning scoreless streak stretching to last season. "The last game we played was in the NLCS. We were ready for this moment. Guys came into camp ready, with a game plan. Everybody executed appropriately."

Chicago's anguished fans believe this team really might end the franchise's 108-year championship drought this season, and they packed the seats in Orange County to herald an auspicious start to the quest.

"We travel well," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "It's exciting to see everybody out there. It's the Cubs, man. It's pretty cool."

And after just the sixth opening day shutout in franchise history, the Cubs say they're ready for all expectations.

"All those feelings came right back," Rizzo said. "Right after the first at-bat, we were back. (The fan support) is huge. It's what our city is about."

Arrieta (1-0) returned from his 22-victory Cy Young Award season with another gem. In his first opening day start since 2012, the right-hander gave up two singles and a walk, never allowing the overmatched Angels to reach second base.

"He's one of the best in the league, and it was tough for us because we haven't seen him," said Mike Trout, who went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in his fourth opening day start. "We were just trying to see what he's got. He was just painting and hitting his spots."

Garrett Richards (0-1) gave up three runs in five innings of six-hit ball in his first opening day start for Los Angeles.

The Angels managed just three hits while getting shut out on opening day for the first time since 2002 -- the year of their only World Series championship. The Angels had never lost an opener by more than seven runs.

Montero punctuated his first opening day start as the Cubs' catcher with a two-run shot to right in the sixth off reliever Fernando Salas.

Dexter Fowler had three hits and a walk for Chicago.

Jason Heyward went 1 for 5 with a double, and Ben Zobrist had two singles in the veteran newcomers' Cubs debuts.

Albert Pujols was 0 for 3 on his first opening day as a designated hitter in the three-time NL MVP's 16 big league seasons.

April 5, 2016 Page 35 of 38

Fowler doubled on Richards' second pitch and scored on Rizzo's two-out single to center. Chicago added two more runs in the fourth on back-to-back singles by Soler and Montero while forcing Richards to throw 41 pitches in the inning.

Kole Calhoun's second-inning single was the Angels' only hit until Daniel Nava's seventh-inning single in his Los Angeles debut.

NEW GUYS

Andrelton Simmons went 0 for 3 in his Angels debut, although the gifted shortstop made a slick fielding play to limit the Cubs to one run in the seventh. Yunel Escobar went 0 for 4 and made an error in his debut at third.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: RHP Jered Weaver's streak of six straight opening day starts since 2009 ended. He will throw a simulated game in Anaheim on Tuesday to make sure he's ready to return from a neck injury that slowed him in the spring. If all goes well, Weaver might start the homestand finale Sunday.

UP NEXT

Cubs: Jon Lester begins his second season with Chicago after setting the franchise record for a left-hander with 207 strikeouts.

Angels: Left-hander Andrew Heaney is on a big league roster on opening day for the first time, and he'll face the Cubs for the first time.

FROM LA DAILY NEWS

Angels opener spoiled by Chicago Cubs

By Clay Fowler, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

ANAHEIM >> Evidenced by the first Opening Day start of his six-year career, the Angels are asking Garrett Richards to shoulder a heavy burden this season.

Their new No. 1 pitcher didn’t carry the team far Monday night.

Richards exited after five innings of a 9-0 loss to the Cubs at Angel Stadium. The Angels’ offense, however, never showed up. April 5, 2016 Page 36 of 38

It marked the first time the Angels were shutout on Opening Day since 2002, the year they went on to win the World Series.

One of the teams that played at Angel Stadium on Monday is expected to challenge for a championship. The fifth interleague matchup on Opening Day in baseball history pitted the Angels against the betting favorite to win the World Series.

Richards was opposed by reigning NL Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta, who is worthy of whatever title is bestowed on his pitching prowess - ace, No. 1, etc.

Arrieta allowed two hits in seven innings, all the while pitching with a lead.

Miguel Montero went 2 for 5 with 3 RBIs and Dexter Fowler went 3 for 4 and scored three runs for the Cubs, who collected 11 hits to the Angels’ three.

Mike Trout punctuated his 0-for-4 performance by flying out to end the game. After hitting home runs off Seattle’s Felix Hernandez on Opening Day each of the last two years, Trout was struck out twice by Arrieta.

“He was just painting,” Trout said. “He’s got good stuff. He was locating well, working in and out and had his off-speed working.”

“Obviously he’s good,” Richards said, shrugging his shoulders. “Cy Young award winner, so, tip of the cap.”

After allowing a run in the first inning, Richards appeared to have settled in before he was abruptly undone in the fourth. The Cubs added two runs to their lead and required 41 pitches from Richards in the frame, which led to his exit one inning later. Consecutive walks to begin the inning proved costly when Jorge Soler and Montero drove them in with back-to-back RBI singles.

Richards threw 97 pitches in five innings, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Granted, his uninspiring performance came against what is expected to be one of the best lineups in baseball this season.

“With an exception of the fourth inning, I think I was cruising,” Richards said. “I feel confident in myself. I’m not going to go up there and pitch to a lineup based on whose name has what on their back.”

Fernando Salas didn’t fare better in relief, giving up a two-out, two-run home run to Montero in the sixth inning to drop the Angels into a 5-0 hole. To that point, the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters in the Cubs lineup had provided four of their five RBIs. April 5, 2016 Page 37 of 38

Cam Bedrosian, whose spring performance earned him the final spot in the Angels bullpen, pitched the seventh and allowed a run.

The Cubs tacked on three runs in a sloppy ninth inning marred by two walks and an error. Matt Szczur’s two-out, three-run double gave the Cubs a 9-0 lead.

“We set the table a little too much for a good lineup,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “(Richards) had good stuff, it just took him a while to harness it.”

Angels’ CJ Wilson out at least a month with sore shoulder

By Clay Fowler, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

ANAHEIM >> The Angels paper-thin starting rotation will be without C.J. Wilson for at least another month. Wilson, who underwent surgery in August to clean up bone spurs in his left elbow, suffered from a sore shoulder in spring training he believed was a result of the elbow problem.

As of this week, his shoulder strength didn’t meet the medical staff’s standard to begin a throwing program, but he will be tested again in two days.

Wilson, 35, is owed $20 million in the final year of his five-year, $77.5 million contract. He candidly discussed his uncertain future on Monday before the Angels season opener against the Cubs.

Wilson hopes to return to the middle of the rotation, but said he was open to pitching out of the bullpen for the first time in six years.

“Yeah, totally. I think about that all the time,” Wilson said. “If I come back and I have some sort of electric stuff ... but I can only throw 30 pitches, I think it’s going to be pretty clear that I can help the team out as a reliever. Next year is obviously a whole different ball game for that.”

Wilson was reportedly the subject of trade talks during the offseason, meaning he could end up on another team even before his contract expires at the end of the season.

Before his surgery in 2015, he was fairly effective despite pitching with elbow pain. In 21 starts, he went 8-8 with a 3.89 ERA and struck out 110 batters in 132 innings.

Endurance, not velocity or control, was Wilson’s primary issue last season. He anticipates pitching with some discomfort this season, but doesn’t want to rush his rehabilitation. April 5, 2016 Page 38 of 38

“I probably threw 100 innings last year I shouldn’t have based on medical advice,” Wilson said. “I did well, so I was like ‘I guess I’ll just keep rolling with this,’ right before I realized I couldn’t even put a shirt on because my arm wouldn’t bend or straighten.”

The pain forced Wilson to alter his arm angle last season, something he was comfortable with based on experimentation with various arm slots throughout his career.

“I felt like I could uncork the ball and it was coming out pretty well,” he said. “Throwing in my normal slot, I was like ‘There’s no way I can put anything on the ball.’ I think it’s just a matter of time before I feel comfortable throwing different pitches from down there. ... I’ll still be able to throw all of my pitches.”

Weaver’s last test Battling a neck problem that plagued him in spring training, Jered Weaver will throw four innings in a simulated game on Tuesday, according to Angels manager Mike Scioscia.

Should the pitcher that started the last six Opening Day games for the Angels emerge healthy, he could join the Angels rotation on Sunday in the finale of a four-game series against Texas.

“We definitely want to see how he feels, just how he’s locating his pitches,” Scioscia said. “He felt great last workout so we don’t anticipate any setbacks. We’ll just see how he comes out of it and how he falls into our rotation.”

Playing favorites The matchup between the Angels and Cubs represented just the fifth interleague Opening Day game in major league history. The fourth was played on Sunday when the Royals hosted the Mets in a World Series rematch.

This season isn’t an ideal time for the Cubs to land on the Angels’ schedule, at least according to the oddsmakers. The Cubs are the betting favorite to win this year’s World Series at 5/1 odds, according to Bovada.

The Angels are 40/1 to win the World Series according to the online oddsmaker. AL West Division foes ahead of the Angels are the Astros (16/1) and Rangers (25/1). Rounding out the division are the Mariners (40/1) and Oakland A’s (66/1).