After beating the miserable 36-120 Chicago White Sox in a three-game series, the Los Angeles Angels headed to Houston for a long, four-game road trip.
Veteran spot starter Jose Suarez started in the first game and pulled a pretty serviceable outing. In five innings of work, Suarez did not allow a run and struck out five. It was a pleasant surprise for Angels fans, considering Suarez has put up a 6.08 ERA on the season.
The Halos scored quickly in the first inning via a solo homer by veteran Taylor Ward. On the season, Ward has 24 homers, 69 RBIs, and an OPS of .761.
After that point, though, the Angels failed to rack up runs. The bullpen was strong up with only allowing one run until the eighth, until reliever Ryan Miller blew the game. Miller couldn’t put the rock in the strike zone, walking four batters and allowing two earned runs. Another reason they couldn’t maintain their small lead was the three errors the Angels committed, contributing to the team’s 3-1 loss.
Yusei Kikuchi continued to impress for the Astros after completing six innings with nine strikeouts and only one earned run allowed. Kikuchi’s ERA with the Astros has fallen to an impressive 3.00. That ranks Kikuchi among the MLB’s top 10 pitchers in ERA.
With the Angels needing a rebound, the second game didn’t differ much from the first.
Former all-star Tyler Anderson had a night to forget. Anderson threw two and a half innings while allowing eight hits and three earned runs. In just that short period of time, Anderson threw 75 pitches.
The offense was rumbling, though, as the team managed to score six runs in three innings. But that effort wasn’t enough as the Astros also continued to pour it on. Houston went on their own run at bat and scored eight runs in three innings. By the seventh inning, the Halos were down three and just couldn’t climb out of that hole, losing by a final score of 9-7. Third baseman Eric Wagaman and catcher Matt Thaiss both had solid games as they both had two RBIs and multiple hits.
The third game further compounded the Halos’ misery. The Angels allowed 20 hits and seven Astros had a multi-hit game.
Reid Detmers continued to struggle on the mound. Despite only pitching two innings, Detmers gave up seven earned runs, as well as seven hits and three walks. It’s been back-to-back games in which Detmers has allowed several runs and in total has allowed 14 in seven innings.
In June, Detmers was optioned to Triple-A after having a 6.00 ERA. These statistical measures make it seem like Detmers’ season has been a total disaster, but he has always been a streaky pitcher. As in his first four starts of this season Detmers posted a 1.19 ERA, so the Angels know he has strong performances in him. They’ll hope Detmers can find his groove soon or for next season.
Astros All-Star batters Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker both had terrific performances, going for four hits each in this blowout 10-4 win.
Despite losing the first three games and the series, the Angels managed to take one away from Houston at the last opportunity.
Promising rookie Zach Neto was the hero of the game as Neto homered twice and batted in six runs, including a clutch hit in the ninth. Heading into the top of that inning the Halos were down 6-5 with closer Josh Hader coming in to secure the win for Houston. Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe walked in the team’s first at-bat, outfielder Kevin Pillar singled and first baseman Nolan Schanuel singled to load the bases with no outs. Then, Hader walked Ward to tie the game. Finally, Neto came up to the plate and applied the finishing touch with some insurance runs for the Halos.
The Astros weren’t ready to go down without a fight, scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but came up short by one run to lose 9-8.
The Angels earned their 63rd win of the season in Houston to go along with their 93 losses, and are still last in the AL West by four games. With this loss, it’s hard to believe the Astros will catch up to the Guardians and Yankees for a better playoff seeding. They’ll likely finish third in the American League and won’t have the luxury of home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
At this point of the season the Angels are just looking for some sort of spark to help them propel them into the 2025 season. The Angels next head to Chicago, looking to give the White Sox the honor of losing the most games ever in a single season.