ANAHEIM — With a chance to win a series Sunday, the Angels instead got blown out.
Their 12-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox marked the fourth time in nine games they’ve allowed at least eight runs, and the third time they’ve lost by at least eight.
On the bright side, the Angels are 5-4, which is a pace they’d be happy to keep all season.
They won’t be able to do that unless they start to get some better performances, at the plate and on the mound.
“We just couldn’t shut them down,” Angels manager Ron Washington said, “and we couldn’t score any runs.”
Starter Chase Silseth gave up three runs in five innings, and then the game got away with relievers José Cisnero and José Suarez on the mound. It got so bad that designated hitter Miguel Sanó was called on to pitch in the ninth.
Even with better pitching, the Angels would have lost because the hitters came up empty for most of the afternoon.
The Angels had opportunities in the first three innings but couldn’t convert. They left two runners on in the first and third. In the second, Sanó led off with a single and Logan O’Hoppe hit into a double play.
Their best chance came in the third, when leadoff man Anthony Rendon led off with a double, his second hit of the season. Nolan Schanuel moved him to third with a grounder. Mike Trout then walked and stole second, putting two runners in scoring position with one out.
Taylor Ward struck out and Brandon Drury grounded out.
“It could have really changed the momentum of the game if we could have put some runs on board,” Washington said. “If we would have even gotten one, it would have made a difference. We had a chance to get two. We had the meat of the lineup up there. But we just didn’t come through with a base hit.”
The game was out of reach by the time Trout hit a homer – all four of his homers have been solo homers – to make it 8-1 in the eighth.
The Angels have had a few good offensive games, but mostly it’s been a struggle throughout the lineup.
Rendon (.272 OPS), Schanuel (.482), Drury (.429), Mickey Moniak (.327) and Zach Neto (.523) have all started the season poorly at the plate.
On the mound, Silseth gave up three solo homers in the third inning, the second time this weekend an Angels starter gave up three homers in an inning, to David Hamilton, Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill.
“It sucks,” Silseth said. “The first guy (Hamilton), I got behind. I threw a fastball and he hit it out. The second one (Devers) I hung a split…. The third one (O’Neill), I just threw him too many fastballs. He handles the inside pitch very well. I just didn’t get it in deep enough.”
Those were the only three hits Silseth allowed. He retired seven of the next eight hitters after the homers.
Silseth threw 91 pitches, and he noticeably lost some velocity on his fastball toward the end, which was one of the issues that had the Angels undecided on whether he should be a starter or reliever early in 2023. Silseth answered late in the season by doing a better job of holding his velocity, which encouraged the Angels to keep him in the rotation.
“It’s early,” Silseth said, explaining the velocity drop. “Trying to work throughout some things. That’s really it. I felt pretty good. It just wasn’t coming out.”
When Silseth left the game, the Angels were down 3-0. That quickly turned into a 7-0 deficit after Cisnero and Suarez allowed four runs in the sixth. Three of them came home on Reese McGuire’s homer against Suarez. Suarez was charged with three more runs in the ninth. After Guillo Zuñiga was unable to record even one out, the Angels ended up using Sanó, who retired the only batter he faced.
