ANAHEIM, Calif. — Coming off a series loss against the Rays, the Angels looked to rebound against the Reds in a three-game set. However, their offense sputtered throughout the series, as they failed to record more than five runs in any game.
Game one of the series featured a pitching duel early on, with LHP Tyler Anderson playing fantastically for the Halos. Through seven innings, the lefty allowed three hits and only one earned run, lowering his season ERA to 1.42. This has been a bounceback season for Anderson after posting a 5.43 ERA in a rough 2023 season.
On the other side, the Reds’ LHP Nick Lodolo navigated through a couple of jams, allowing seven hits but only surrendering one run through his six innings of work.
The Angels then handed the ball to RHP Adam Cimber and the righty allowed four runs in just 0.2 of an inning. The bats couldn’t muster up a late rally against the Reds bullpen, and even though they outhit the Reds 7-5, the Angels lost the ballgame 7-1.
LHP Patrick Sandoval took the mound against the Reds in game two coming off of his best start of the season. However, Sandoval imploded against the Reds, surrendering seven earned runs on six hits while walking five. Most of the damage came in the first inning, in which the Reds put up five runs, capped off by a Tyler Stephenson grand slam. “Sandy” had been steadily improving after a shaky Opening Day start against the Reds, but couldn’t manage to find the strike zone in Saturday’s matchup.
On the hitting side, the Angels offense looked much better than the night before, as DH Miguel Sano finished with a three-hit night, one of those being a two-run homer. However, the rest of the lineup failed to string together a collective offensive streak and the Halos lost the second game of the series by a final score of 7-5.
In the series finale, the Angels turned to RHP Jose Soriano and the righty looked excellent through his first five innings of work. The Reds countered with RHP Frankie Montas, but he exited in the first inning after an arm injury.
The game stayed scoreless until the sixth inning, where Soriano would run into trouble, surrendering three runs in the frame. The largest blow was a two-run double off Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s bat that was all the Reds needed to win the game. All three runs scored in the inning were unearned, so Soriano’s final line was seven strikeouts throughout his six innings of work, allowing only three hits.
The Reds bullpen posted 8.1 scoreless innings of work after Montas departed. The Angels once again out-hit the Reds 6-5, but their lack of clutch hitting—especially with runners in scoring position—cost them in the latter stages of the game. RHP Alexis Diaz pitched a clean ninth inning to complete the sweep over the Angels.
Los Angeles returned home to play the Orioles, looking to start the homestand off strong. LHP Reid Detmers, who has had a phenomenal start to the 2024 season, took the ball for the Halos and looked vulnerable for the first time this year. Through seven innings of work, the lefty allowed six hits and four runs. Detmers also allowed three walks and only struck out four in his outing.
The Orioles sent out RHP Albert Suarez, making his second start for the O’s after a long absence from MLB. In 5.2 innings, Suarez held the Angels scoreless and it took until the seventh inning for the Angels to put a run on the board. Adell broke up the shutout with a solo blast, followed by a Nolan Schanuel RBI single.
In the bottom of the ninth against RHP Craig Kimbrel, the Angels loaded the bases for their superstar Mike Trout, but the slugger went down looking to end the game, leaving the Angels a 4-2 loss. Trout has been exceptional at the plate this year, but his one struggle has come with runners in scoring position, as most of his home runs have been solo shots. The main struggle offensively for the Angels hasn’t necessarily been the lack of total offense, but specifically hitting with runners in scoring position.
Looking to end their skid, the Angels came out firing in game two of the series against RHP Grayson Rodriguez. Manager Ron Washington moved Trout into the leadoff spot for the first time since 2020 and it paid off. The centerfielder went deep to lead off the bottom of the first. The Angels continued to apply pressure, scoring in each of the next three innings as well.
Rodriguez finished the game with an ugly line of 4.1 innings pitched, 11 hits and seven earned runs.
RHP Griffin Canning got the start for the Halos and provided a solid outing. He fired five innings of three-run ball, allowing five hits and striking out four.
Trout’s leadoff homer aside, the bottom half of the lineup were the main producers in Tuesday’s game, as Logan O’Hoppe, Jo Adell, Luis Rengifo and Zach Neto all finished with multi-hit games. This was especially relieving for Neto, as he’s had a slow start to the season and the Angels hope this will be the boost of confidence that will propel him to a strong sophomore season.
RHP Carlos Estevez came on to close, and pitched a clean ninth, striking out two and sealing the 7-4 victory for the Angels.
Looking to take the series from the powerhouse Orioles, the Angels turned to Anderson and he once again delivered in his turn through the rotation. Although the lefty didn’t pitch deep into Wednesday’s game, Anderson hurled five innings and surrendered just two earned runs to the O’s, in addition to striking out seven. Once Anderson exited, the Angels went to LHP Jose Suarez out of the bullpen and he surrendered three runs right out of the gate to put the Orioles up 5-0.
The main headline for the series finale was RHP Dean Kremer for the Orioles. The righty struck out 10 Halos in his 5.1 innings of work, allowing only two runs in a dominant start. The lone hiccup came against Mike Trout, in which the centerfielder went deep for his tenth homer of the year.
Taylor Ward continued his hot streak as well, clubbing a home run off of RHP Jacob Webb in the sixth. The Angels added another in the eighth, with a solo homer from Zach Neto to make it a 6-4 game. In the bottom of the ninth, the Angels would come within one off an O’Hoppe RBI groundout and put the tying run on base in the form of Jo Adell. In a controversial ending, Adell was caught stealing to give the Orioles a 6-5 win, but replay review showed that Adell had clearly beaten the throw to second.
A tough ending to Wednesday’s game booked another series loss for the Angels, their second in a row.
On Friday, the Angels will welcome the Twins into town, in which Patrick Sandoval will get the start for game one. The lefty currently sports a 6.45 ERA and he’ll face a Twins lineup that has plenty of power.
If the Angels want to stay competitive, they’ll have to start hitting consistently with runners in scoring position. The AL West continues to look like an open door for any team, and if the Angels can ride a hot streak into May and June, they can look to add another piece at the deadline to hopefully make them a true playoff contender.
Until then, the starting pitching will also have to pick up the slack, as outside of Anderson and Detmers, this rotation has struggled to eat innings and give the bullpen a day off.