Angels bullpen keeps filling the void left by Joe Smith

There was some turbulence, a few hits and runs along the way, but an Angels bullpen that lost setup man Joe Smith on Saturday to a left-ankle sprain nailed down the final 12 outs of Tuesday night’s win and the last 14 outs of Wednesday’s win over the Houston Astros.

Mike Morin got five outs Wednesday, continuing a September surge in which he has a 1.13 earned-run average and 15 strikeouts in eight innings. Fernando Salas got three outs Tuesday and two on Wednesday. Left-hander Jose Alvarez got one out in each game.

Trevor Gott charged with giving up one run Tuesday and one run Wednesday but finished off an inning of each game. Left-hander Cesar Ramos, who has pitched mostly in low-leverage situations, got the first out of the eighth on Wednesday.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” closer Huston Street said. “That’s what the big leagues are about. You get an opportunity, you have to make the most of it. You have to prove to yourself, your coaches, your organization, that you belong here. There’s no better time than now to see what people have. The guys have stepped up in a huge way.”

Smith suffered his injury when he slipped on a flight of steps at the team hotel in Minneapolis. The Angels responded with a doubleheader sweep of the Twins that day, with eight relievers combining for 8 1/3 innings in Game 1.

“We have a lot of guys who have pitched in different situations — we didn’t have guys who just threw in meaningless games,” Smith said. “Everyone got a taste of pressure situations, and it helps, especially this time of year.

“When something freak like this happens, guys don’t get rattled, they know what to expect, and they keep pitching the way they can, whether it’s the sixth or eighth inning.”

Just enough

Angels starter Nick Tropeano needed 55 pitches to complete the first two innings Wednesday but managed to last 4 1/3 innings, allowing two unearned runs and four hits, striking out five and walking two.

Of the 15 runs he allowed in his first five starts, 10 came in the fifth inning. He ran into more trouble in the fifth Wednesday, but it wasn’t all of his own doing.

Max Stassi singled with one out, and Jose Altuve chopped a grounder to the shortstop hole. Erick Aybar fielded the ball, jumped and threw wildly past second for an error that put runners on second and third. George Springer stroked a run-scoring single to center in a two-run inning.

“He didn’t get as deep in the game as you need your starters to do,” Manager Mike Scioscia did, “but he gave us a chance to win, for sure.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com