Big-hitting Angels can’t capitalize on late chances in loss to Mariners
With Shohei Ohtani back in the starting lineup after an abbreviated pitching start because of cramping in his middle finger, the Angels slid into a 9-7 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Friday night for their fourth consecutive defeat.
Friday night was a slugfest at Angel Stadium. Twice, the Angels (56-55) responded to the Mariners (58-52) by rallying to tie the score. First in the third, with an RBI single from the newly acquired C.J. Cron followed by a three-run homer from Mike Moustakas.
When All-Star Julio Rodríguez pushed the Mariners ahead with a two-run homer in the fourth, Mickey Moniak responded with a two-run blast in the fifth to tie the score 7-7.
Shohei Ohtani believes the Angels need him too much to take days off. The Angels don’t disagree and are trusting him to manage his fatigue.
Luis Rengifo contributed to the Angels’ scoring tally, hitting a leadoff home run in the first. He went two for four at the plate Friday.
The Angels went through five pitchers. Starter Reid Detmers struggled, giving up seven runs and nine hits while walking two and striking out four over four innings. Relievers Jacob Webb and Dominic Leone fared better, but Reynaldo López took the loss after giving up a RBI single to Eugenio Suarez in the eighth. Cal Raleigh hit a solo homer off Aaron Loup in the ninth for the final run.
“He’s in a bit of a funk right now. It’s still a learning process for him,” said Angels manager Phil Nevin of Detmers, citing the left-hander’s velocity as a primary concern.
Detmers said he feels physically fine, but his last two starts have been tough.
“Just gotta find a way to work through it,” he said quietly.
“We’ve got a bunch of new guys, super excited about getting them,” Detmers continued, saying the team boosted by newly acquired players is in a good spot but hasn’t played to its potential so far. “Obviously I need to do better on my half. But yeah, it’s baseball. We’ll get out of it, I’ll get out of it, and move forward and move on to the next one.”
The trades for Cron, Leone, and López are already paying off for the Angels, especially in light of their 17-player injury list.
Infielder Brandon Drury returned after being on the injured list for more than a month with a left shoulder bruise. He participated in a 5-4-3 double play to halt the Mariners in the first.
The Angels fell to 4-4 against the Mariners this season.
With MLB’s trade deadline over, the Dodgers and Angels know what their rosters will be for the final two months of the regular season and — they both hope — the postseason.
“Walks killed us today,” Nevin said. “We walked too many guys and a couple of them scored. And that makes a difference.”
Nevin defended the Angels’ offense and its limited runs against Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo on Thursday. Nevin’s critique and focus for their rematch Saturday came back to the bullpen and bases.
“We got to be better on the mound,” he said. “And at the end of the day, we got to score more runs than they do and we haven’t done that the last four days.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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