Angels pitchers strike out 18 batters, but still lose to Phillies
Kyle Schwarber had a two-run single in the second inning, Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to 15 games and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Angels 2-1 on Wednesday.
Philadelphia won the getaway game despite striking out 18 times, the 11th time since 1906 the team has whiffed at least that many times in a game.
Nick Castellanos struck out four times for the fifth time in his career.
“I haven’t seen that for a while and don’t know what to attribute that to. I guess guys were making perfect pitches on us,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Today wasn’t our best day offensively but we grinded through it. You have to win those types of games when you’re not at your best.”
Ehire Adrianza hit his first home run in nearly three years for the Angels, who went 2-7 on their homestand and have not won any of their five home series this season.
The Angels went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. The team had runners on first and third with one out in the ninth, but Gregory Soto struck out Jo Adell and Taylor Ward hit a fly ball to the warning track in left field where Schwarber caught it for the final out to secure Soto’s second save.
Adell also struck out four times.
Any chance the Angels had of postseason contention this season depended on a healthy Mike Trout and a healthy Anthony Rendon,
“We just have to learn how to touch the ball and put it in play and keep things working that way until our offense starts to click,” manager Ron Washington said.
Zack Wheeler (3-3) won his third straight start after he allowed one run on five hits and struck out six in five innings as the Phillies won seven of 10 games on their road trip.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval (1-5) struck out 10, the fourth time in his career he has posted double digits in strikeouts. The left-hander gave up two runs on four hits, and retired the last eight hitters he faced, including five via strikeout.
“Minus that second inning I feel like I had my best stuff the whole year,” Sandoval said. “I feel like a lot of long at-bats in the second inning with some of those guys. I couldn’t seal the deal and they made me pay for it.”
All of the runs scored in the second inning.
The Phillies had the bases loaded with two outs when Schwarber hit a sharp grounder up the middle — just beyond the glove of diving Angels shortstop Zach Neto — to drive in two runs.
“When I hit it, I didn’t see the shortstop until it got by Sandoval. It kind of stayed inside and was true up the middle and almost hit the bag,” Schwarber said.
The Angels responded on Adrianza’s solo shot to right-center. It was his first homer since Oct. 1, 2021, when he was with the Atlanta Braves.
Bohm’s base hit in the third inning extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games. He is hitting .483 during the run (29 for 60), including 21 for 42 with 12 RBIs during the road trip.
Luis Rengifo kept it a one-run game in the seventh when he threw out Whit Merrifield at home. The Angels second baseman had a sharp grounder by Schwarber deflect off his glove, but he recovered in time by picking up the loose ball and throwing home, where Matt Thaiss applied the tag to Merrifield.
The Angels put infielder Miguel Sanó on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 28, because of left knee inflammation.
Up next
The Angels hit the road for six games. RHP José Soriano (0-4, 4.76 ERA) looks for his first win on Friday in Cleveland.
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