KANSAS CITY -- Before Mitch Farris took the mound for his Major League debut on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium, Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery tried to put the rookie at ease.
“I told him this park is as big as Yellowstone,” Montgomery said. “So, don’t be daunted by all the seats. Just go out and pitch your game. Do what you do. That’s why you are here. And let the chips fall where they may.”
Farris did just that. The left-hander, who was called up from Double-A Rocket City, worked five strong innings against the Royals, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks over 70 pitches (43 strikes). The Angels made Farris a winner when Jo Adell cranked a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth before adding on in their 5-1 victory.
Over his last four starts in Double-A, Farris had a 1.52 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings. At that point, he led the Southern League with 142 strikeouts.
But Tuesday didn’t start as smoothly as Farris wanted. He walked the first hitter he faced and threw a wild pitch to put the Royals’ Makel Garcia at second base with nobody out. But Farris shook off the nerves by fanning Bobby Witt Jr. for his first Major League strikeout before getting out of the inning against Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. The only run Farris allowed came on Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly in the third inning following Witt’s one-out triple.
“I saw a guy who composed himself pretty good,” Montgomery said. “Leadoff walk, that can go sideways quick, and he didn’t let it. He gave us five really strong innings.”
It has been a whirlwind couple of days for Farris since he learned he was headed to the big leagues. But he joined the Angels in Houston, flew with the team to Kansas City and had plenty of time to focus on the first start.
“It was awesome,” Farris said. “Just trying to get out of there with some confidence. Five innings, one run. Way more than I could have asked for.”
Pasquantino offered a tip of the cap to the young left-hander.
“He made his changeup play very differently than normal changeups,” Pasquantino said. “Interesting angle, and he outperformed us tonight.”
Farris said his mother, father and about 15 friends and family were able to make the trip to see his Major League debut. They came from Tampa and the Charlotte, N.C., area.
When Farris completed the fifth inning, which featured his first career pickoff by catching Kyle Isbel off at first base, the Angels were down 1-0. The fact that he pitched well was comforting for Farris, but then he got an added bonus when Adell’s two-run blast off Michael Lorenzen suddenly put Farris in position to be the winning pitcher.
“He threw so well and we really wanted to find a way to help him out,” Adell said. “I’m glad I could put a good swing on a ball.”
The Angels received four scoreless innings from the bullpen with outings from José Fermin, Reid Detmers, Luis García and closer Kenley Jansen. Los Angeles later added three insurance runs to put the game away on a night when the club was without Mike Trout, who missed the game because of a skin infection.
“When you show up and have some success, it can kind of trampoline your career,” Adell said of Farris’ debut. “It’s just going out there and believing you can do it. Mitch was incredible in the Minor Leagues, and now he’s here doing his thing.”