SEATTLE — The Angels’ hitters finally showed a little life, although it came too late.
After their scoreless streak reached 21 innings, the Angels scored three runs in the final three innings of a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
Over the last 16 games, the Angels have scored 38 runs, an average of 2.4 per game.
Not surprisingly, the Angels (12-16) have lost 12 of those games, erasing all the encouraging signs from their 8-4 start.
It’s been such a familiar script that Manager Ron Washington’s comments before the game proved to be prophetic.
“When you’re not scoring runs, you’ve got to play perfect baseball,” Washington said. “If we just put runs on the board, the little mistakes we’ve been making out there on defense, they wouldn’t even show up. But because we’re not putting runs on the board, and we make those mistakes, it opens up the flood gates for the other team. It gets magnified.”
For much of this one, the story was one Jack Kochanowicz mistake – a three-run homer – and the Angels’ hitters stringing together more zeroes.
The Angels had two hits in the first six innings. Their best scoring chances were created by drawing five walks, but they also hit into two double plays.
Logan O’Hoppe finally ended the scoreless streak – which went back to Saturday – when he hit his eighth homer of the season, a solo shot in the seventh.
In the eighth, the Angels scored twice after three doubles, from Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Jorge Soler. It could have been a bigger inning, but Mike Trout and Taylor Ward were both called out on strikes. The Angels struck out 11 times, the 13th time in 16 games that they’ve reached double figures.
Moments after the Angels failed to cash in on a two-on, no-out opportunity in the top of the second, the Mariners converted in the bottom of the inning.
With two outs and runners at the corners, Kochanowicz got ahead with two quick strikes on Jorge Polanco, the Mariners’ hottest hitter.
Kochanowicz then threw three straight non-competitive pitches, all either up or well outside. Polanco then fouled off a pitch. Kochanowicz then threw a sinker that was over the outside corner, and Polanco yanked it over the right-field fence, for a three-run homer.
Although the pitch wasn’t over the heart of the plate, it was in the heart of the area that Kochanowicz had been working to Polanco, so he was likely looking there.
Polanco, the reigning American League Player of the Week, hit another homer against reliever José Fermin in the seventh. He’s hit six homers in his last six games.
After Kochanowicz gave up the homer to Polanco, he retired nine in a row and 13 of 15 to get through the sixth. It was his second straight quality start.
Kochanowicz struck out six and walked four, both unusually high numbers for him.
O’Hoppe’s homer pulled the Angels within 3-1 before the bullpen entered the game, but Fermin then allowed the Mariners to tack on the runs that proved to be the difference in the game. That’s been a familiar problem for the Angels. Because of the lackluster offense, they are almost always behind in the late innings, so they can’t get to their better relievers. The other relievers have been ineffective at keeping games within striking distance.
More to come on this story.
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