TORONTO -- It was a bit of a long road for Chad Stevens to get to the Majors, but he was rewarded with his first career hit on Saturday, and it came against a likely future Hall of Famer.
Stevens, who was called up for the first time in his career on Thursday with top prospect Christian Moore landing on the injured list, hit a single in the fourth inning off veteran right-hander Max Scherzer in a 4-3 loss in 11 innings to the Blue Jays on Saturday at Rogers Centre. Stevens, playing in his third game, broke an 0-for-7 streak to open his career with his single.
“It's pretty unbelievable,” Stevens said. “I mean, that's a Hall of Fame guy out there. So to be able to get my first one against him, it feels great.”
His single up the middle gave the Angels runners at first and third with one out, but Stevens was thrown out trying to steal second base. He beat the throw but second baseman Davis Schneider used his foot to block the bag on the slide attempt from Stevens.
“My lead arm kind of hit his foot,” Stevens said. “And he was able to tag me there.”
Zach Neto then grounded out to shortstop to end the inning, as the Angels again couldn’t come up with runners in scoring position, much like in Friday’s 4-3 loss in 10 innings that saw them go 1-for-10 in those situations.
Stevens also dropped down a successful sacrifice bunt in the seventh after Luis Rengifo led off with a single. It helped set up Nolan Schanuel’s game-tying RBI single with two outs.
Stevens, though, was removed for pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. in the ninth, but Wade struck out to end the inning. It was more of the same for the Angels, who failed to score in the 10th for a second straight game and also couldn’t come through in the 11th. The Angels went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“It’s becoming a bit of a familiar theme,” said interim manager Ray Montgomery. “We're putting guys on base, and we're giving ourselves so many chances. We're just not coming up with a big hit when we need it. We load the bases twice like that, and [to] only come away with two is a little disappointing.”
But it was still a solid showing from Stevens, who was a bit of a surprise callup on Thursday, as he was added to the 40-man roster and brought up over other candidates such as Kyren Paris and Scott Kingery. But Stevens, 26, had been having a strong year with Triple-A Salt Lake, batting .307/.383/.542 with 14 homers, 12 doubles, nine stolen bases and 43 RBIs in 72 games.
He found out about the callup while he was playing for Salt Lake on Wednesday and joined the club for their series finale in Atlanta on Thursday. Montgomery was pleased to see Stevens come through his first hit in his third career game.
“That was cool,” Montgomery said. “That one, he'll remember forever. We all remember our first one. So kind of an exciting moment there. I know he was excited. And, yeah, he's done a nice job since he’s been here.”
Stevens also made a nice play defensively in the first inning to help right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, who struggled early but got through 5 1/3 innings and surrendered three runs. Bo Bichette hit a shallow pop fly to right field with two on and one out but Stevens raced back to snare it.
“It was kind of a soft-hit flyball bloop, but I got a decent read on it and went for it,” Stevens said. “That was my ball and I was able to come up with that one.”
Stevens is in his second season with the organization after he signed a Minor League deal in May 2024 after being released by the Astros. He was originally an 11th-round pick by Houston out of the University of Portland in the 2021 Draft and played five seasons and 425 games in the Minors before he was called up.
He’s likely to be sent down when Yoán Moncada is ready to return from his knee sprain, as he just started a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Friday. But for now, Stevens is just doing his best to fit in and contribute any way he can.
“I’ve been getting adjusted,” Stevens said. “And I’m trying to play my game and find my role on this team and help the team win.”