Walbert Ureña handed painful loss in 1-0 game

Ureña was able to outduel Jacob Misiorowski, and that’s even with Misiorowski throwing seven strong innings. The 22-year-old gave up just three hits, and while he did issue three free passes, he made up for it with seven punchouts and the Brewers rarely threatened. In another lost season for the Halos, Ureña has been a significant bright spot. He’ll be back at it with a 2.54 ERA against the Marlins next weekend.

Ureña left with a 4-1 lead after striking out five and allowing just two hits, but that wasn’t sufficient tonight. That he’s pitching for such a lousy team — and one that will probably get worse before the trade deadline — is one of the things that makes it tough to bet on the 22-year-old Ureña for the short term. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with going forward, but there’s just so little help to be had in Anaheim. He’ll likely face the Brewers on Sunday.

Ureña was brilliant on Tuesday, holding the Cardinals to one run over six innings on his way to a win. The one run came in the fifth inning on two hits and a groundout. He scattered six hits in all and one walk while striking out five batters. The 22-year-old right-hander will take a 2.78 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and an 83/47 K/BB ratio across 87 1/3 innings into a start against the Astros in Anaheim on Monday.

Detmers has been a viable fantasy option for most of the first half of the season despite winning only three games, as he registered a 4.19 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 123/35 K/BB ratio across 108 2/3 innings through his first 19 starts. He’ll be followed in the Angels’ rotation by Grayson Rodriguez and Ryan Johnson in their weekend series against the Tigers. Jose Soriano and Walbert Urena will pitch on Monday and Tuesday respectively against the Cardinals.

For the good news, Ureña gave up just one hit, zero runs, and practically no hard contact in this start. The bad news, he walked five batters and just could not figure out how to put hitters away. Strike one was hard to come by, but he often fought back to get ahead in the count before failing to execute with two strikes. It was a strange outing to say the least and disappointing to not hang on long enough for a win when his team won by 12 runs. It’s also worth mentioning that his velocity was down two ticks across the board. Hopefully some rest during the All-Star break can help him get back on track. He’ll close the first half with a 2.88 ERA, 78 strikeouts, and 46 walks across 81 1/3 innings.

Ureña got through four scoreless in just 36 pitches, but the fifth was a very different story, as he gave up two walks and six singles before finally being lifted. Ureña overall has been quite impressive in going 5-6 with a 3.14 ERA as a 22-year-old for a directionless franchise. It bodes well for the long haul, but he still doesn’t seem like a very good bet for the short term. He’ll likely make his next start Thursday against the Mariners.

Ureña gave up four hits, walked none and struck out six. He improved to 5-5 with the win. The Athletics loaded the bases with one out in the first inning against Ureña, but he was able to escape the jam. After that, the Athletics had only one baserunner reach second base against Ureña. He lowered his ERA to 2.41. Ureña will face the Athletics at home next weekend.

Ureña needed just 88 pitches to complete seven innings in one of his most efficient outings to date. Last time out, he threw five scoreless innings against Houston, but he walked five and threw 102 pitches in that one. Tonight, he walked just two. Urena was outdueled by Ryne Nelson, so he dropped to 4-5 despite a 2.60 ERA. He’ll face the A’s in Sacramento on Saturday.

Ureña held the Astros scoreless over five innings on Tuesday, but was working around traffic throughout. He tossed just one clean inning as he stranded multiple baserunners in every other frame, scattering three hits and five walks. Seven strikeouts helped him keep the Astros from bringing runners home. The 22-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 2.44 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and a 55/33 K/BB ratio across 55 1/3 innings into a start against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Monday.

Ureña struck out seven in another solid outing. He’s allowed a total of nine runs over 39 innings in his last seven starts, and he’s now 3-4 with a 2.68 ERA overall. Ureña is still a tough sell in mixed leagues as a rookie in a tough situation in Anaheim, but he’s emerging as one of the Angels’ building blocks.