The Los Angeles Angels can’t seem to get their act together. 먹튀검증
The Angels fell to their knees in a 2-5 loss to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on April 2 (ET).
The Angels traveled to Houston fresh off a 12-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox the day before to complete a 2-1 sweep of the series, but their bats were once again lethargic at the plate. They had 11 hits, two more than Houston, and four walks, two more than the Astros, but were just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Shohei Ohtani, who had hit two home runs the day before, went 1-for-5 with a walk and Mike Trout went 1-for-3 with two walks.
The sixth inning was the decider.
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the sixth, the Angels loaded the bases with back-to-back singles by Hunter Renfroe and Gio Aschella, and one out later, Zach Neto singled to left. Leadoff man Taylor Ward then stepped to the plate. However, Ward was hit by a full-count grounder to right-hander Hector Neris.
It was clearly a low pitch on the replay screen. Ward gave umpire Stu Schwarber a dumbfounded look and exchanged a few words with him, but Angels manager Phil Nevin jumped up and yelled at him, demanding to know why it was a strike. After being ejected, Nevin went into the dugout and continued to complain to the umpire before exiting.
The Angels were unable to capitalize on their chances, as even Mike Trout, who was expected to be the go-to guy with two outs, retired on an infield single. It was an inning that essentially decided the game.
In the meantime, Ohtani, who led the AL in home runs with two the day before, went 1-for-5. After leading off the first inning with a single to right, he was hitless in his next four at-bats.
In the second inning, with the bases loaded, he was hit by a three-pitch walk to Houston starter Ronel Blanco, ending his RBI opportunity. He was stranded on a fielder’s choice in the fifth and a second baseman’s grounder in the seventh. In his final at-bat in the ninth, he led off with a walk and was struck out swinging by a low curveball on the body of Houston closer Ryan Pressley.
The Angels opened the scoring in the top of the second on Ward’s RBI single, and Houston quickly evened the score in the bottom of the inning on Jose Abreu’s sacrifice fly. The Angels regained the lead in the fifth on a solo home run by Brandon Drury, but Houston answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Yoenis Diaz and a two-run double by Alex Bregman to make it 4-2. Houston added a run in the eighth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Kyle Tucker and Abreu.