Davis Daniel has strong outing, but Angels fall to Rockies

Brenton Doyle capped an impressive July with a towering home run in the eighth inning, Ezequiel Tovar extended his hitting streak to 17 games and the Colorado Rockies beat the Angels 2-1 Wednesday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Logan O’Hoppe hit a solo shot in the fifth inning for the Angels, who are 2-4 on their current homestand.

Angels starter Davis Daniel was solid. In his first big-league start since July 8, the right-hander gave up one run and five hits in five innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Daniel was sent down to triple-A Salt Lake when he gave up 12 runs (11 earned) in two starts after throwing eight shutout innings in his first MLB start on June 27 against Detroit.

“He gave us a real good start,” manager Ron Washington said. “The thing is we couldn’t support him with any more runs other than the one we got from O’Hoppe.”

Doyle, who missed Tuesday’s game due to a bruised right index finger, connected on a slider from Hans Crouse (4-2) that went 431 feet into the left-field stands beyond the bullpens to put the Rockies back on top.

“I know that guy is kind of slider heavy. Just wanted to get something a little elevated and something I could handle,” Doyle said.

It was Doyle’s 11th homer in July, tied with Oakland’s Brent Rooker for most in the majors, and it was his 19th extra-base hit, which led MLB.

Doyle’s .337 batting average (29 for 86) during the month was third in the NL. He led the NL in slugging (.791) and OPS (1.191).

It is quite a turnaround for Doyle, who hit .223 in June and was mired in a 5 for 40 slump entering July.

“Those lows in the season are what kind of open your eyes and tell you that you have to work on something. I’m thankful that streak happened because if it didn’t happen I might not be where I’m at right now,” Doyle said.

Rockies manager Bud Black said he hopes Doyle will get NL Player of the Month after becoming the first Rockies player to have double-digit homers in July since Carlos Gonzalez in 2015.

“He’s deserving,” Black said. “It’s a great sign of stability and self confidence that you have to keep going and keep the faith and know your talent is going to get you out of (a slump).”

Kyle Freeland (3-4) won for the third time in his last four starts and tied his season-high in going seven innings. The left-hander gave up one run and six hits while striking out six.

Victor Vodnik retired the Angels in order in the ninth for his fourth save in six opportunities.

Tovar got the Rockies’ first hit with a one-out base hit to left in the first inning. He advanced to second when Ryan McMahon drew a walk with two out and scored on Kris Bryant’s RBI single to left field.

Freeland had gave up only two hits and faced the minimum through four innings before O’Hoppe lined an elevated single over the wall and off the auxiliary message board in right field to even it at 1-1 in the fifth inning.

It was O’Hoppe’s 15th homer, which is third among major league catchers.