Weaver’s soft stuff confounds O’s hitters

ANAHEIM — Mike Trout was merely playing spectator in center field, and even he couldn’t figure out Jered Weaver.

As the day wore on and the mighty Orioles hitters continued to be flummoxed by Weaver’s unique array of pitches, Trout found himself playing along, trying to guess which pitch the Angels’ longtime ace would throw next, be it the low-80s fastball or the mid-70s changeup or the high-60s curve.

“He got me every time,” Trout said Sunday, moments after Weaver had set the tone in a 10-2, sweep-avoiding victory from Angel Stadium. “He just keeps you so off balance. It’s frustrating. It has to be. I’m just happy I’m out in center field.”

The Orioles began play on Sunday with the fifth-highest OPS in the game, but Weaver shut them out through the first six frames and finished twirling seven innings of two-run ball, Jonathan Schoop’s seventh-inning two-run homer serving as the only ball the Orioles hit particularly hard.

Weaver only threw 35 percent of his pitches for fastballs and mixed in 41 breaking pitches, relying heavily on a loopy curveball that was thrown as slowly as 67 mph.

“The front door was locked, the back door was bolted, so I was coming in through the chimney today,” is how Weaver described it.

The curveball, Weaver said, “was more consistent than it has been, a little bit sharper. It’s coming along. Still not where I …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com