OC Register: Angels fail to complete comeback, drop 4th straight game

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — The Angels nearly pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory, but they ended up with yet another discouraging loss.

After falling behind by four runs before they even came to bat, the Angels tied the score twice only to lose to the Seattle Mariners, 9-7, on Friday night.

The Angels had two runners on with none out in the bottom of the ninth, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. The ballpark roared as Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate, but he struck out on three pitches, looking as if he was trying to win the game with one rib-jarring swing. C.J. Cron then struck out and Mike Moustakas popped up.

The Angels have now lost four in a row and six of eight, dropping five games behind in the American League wild-card race, with four teams between them and the final playoff spot.

Starter Reid Detmers gave up four runs in the top of the first, but the Angels rallied to tie the score at 5-5 by the third inning, when Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer.

After they fell behind again in the fourth, Mickey Moniak hit a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth.

The Angels could not score again, and the Mariners took the final lead with a run against Reynaldo López in the eighth. Julio Rodriguez doubled and then scored on Eugenio Suarez’s single.

Aaron Loup gave up a homer in the ninth.

Although the bullpen was responsible for the decisive runs, the Angels were playing from behind all night because of Detmers.

The first run he allowed in the first was tough luck, as he gave up a broken-bat single, a walk and then an infield hit.

With two outs and only that run in, Detmers was one pitch from escaping with minimal damage, but he then gave up Teoscar Hernández’s double off the left field fence and a Ty France three-run homer.

With long reliever Jaime Barría still unavailable after he threw 70 pitches on Wednesday, the Angels needed Detmers to get as deep as he could, despite the deficit.

He gave up three more runs in three more innings. The last two scored on a Rodriguez homer in the fourth, just after the Angels had fought back to tie the score at 5-5 with four runs in the third.

Moustakas’ homer was his fifth game-tying or go-ahead homer out of the six that he’s hit with the Angels.

Moniak’s two-run homer in the sixth tied the score again, taking Detmers off the hook for a loss, but it was nonetheless a discouraging performance in a disappointing season.

Detmers has a 4.69 ERA after 20 starts, a far cry from his 3.77 mark last year. He seemed to have turned his season around with a solid stretch in June and early July, but since then he has struggled again.

Although he only gave up two runs in each of his previous two outings, he didn’t make it past the fifth inning in either.

More to come on this story.

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[Chico]

The piitching is shit.

[jsnpritchett]

1 hour ago, Chico said:

The piitching is shit.

So is your spelling.

[SoCalDucksFan]

5 hours ago, Chico said:

The piitching is shit.

Wait 'til next season, when Ohtani is gone.

[fan_since79]

The pessimism on this forum is thick this morning. A bit too thick.

My perspective is one game, tonight's. Let's play hard and win that one. Players need to man up, and Nevin needs to manage like it's a postseason Game 7.

[jsnpritchett]

21 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

The pessimism on this forum is thick this morning. A bit too thick.

My perspective is one game, tonight's. Let's play hard and win that one. Players need to man up, and Nevin needs to manage like it's a postseason Game 7.

We've been hearing this "it's one game," "it's one series," etc shit for far too long. 

[Angelsjunky]

10 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

We've been hearing this "it's one game," "it's one series," etc shit for far too long. 

Lots of turning the page. I mean, I get it - it is a psychological technique that major league baseball players have to employ, sort of like Han Solo's "Never tell me the odds!" But we as fans can try to be a bit more realistic. Nothing wrong with hoping and cheering them on until the last heart-beat, but there's a fine line (no line, really) between "pessimism" and "realism."

 

[fan_since79]

If only they would add another wild card...or two. Then we've got a race!

[Duren, Duren]

A split in this series just resets things to the way they were before it started. But four games less on the schedule and a chance to gain  ground head to head on Seattle wasted. And this is a best case scenario. 

Win one of the next two and they drop two more games behind from the way it was at the start of this series. 

Get swept and it's four games lost to Seattle. So instead of passing them in the standings the Mariners put the Angels further behind in their rear view mirror.

So far this has been a disastrous important two games. In each the Angels fought hard at times only to falter late in critical situations. On the other side, Seattle must be pumped with confidence with their late clutch heroics. So the next two will have teams on the opposite side emotionally. And add desperation to the mix for the Angels. 

[gurn67]

Well, they're 8 games into a stretch of 25 games against teams over .500. 2-6 so far. There's no way to sugar coat it. This stinks. Period. Meanwhile, everyone else in the division is playing well when they need to. Seattle even traded away their closer, and they're still better than the Angels.

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

The pessimism on this forum is thick this morning. A bit too thick.

My perspective is one game, tonight's. Let's play hard and win that one. Players need to man up, and Nevin needs to manage like it's a postseason Game 7.

We know it’s bad when FS is telling us the board is pessimistic. 

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, jsnpritchett said:

We've been hearing this "it's one game," "it's one series," etc shit for far too long. 

Do you actually think there’s a better strategy or philosophy?

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Do you actually think there’s a better strategy or philosophy?

It's just pablum. Like, of course they're going to try to win tonight. But to pretend saying that or "let's just focus on this next series" is somehow meaningful or productive is silly, at least to me. 

[Stradling]

5 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

It's just pablum. Like, of course they're going to try to win tonight. But to pretend saying that or "let's just focus on this next series" is somehow meaningful or productive is silly, at least to me. 

And yet you take issue with it. If you know it’s meaningless why be bothered by it? ESPECIALLY from a fan POV. 

[Ron Mexico]

Arte spends the money but that dude is a curse Sell fucker 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[REDneck]

19 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Do you actually think there’s a better strategy or philosophy?

Yes. WINNING!

[jsnpritchett]

6 minutes ago, Stradling said:

And yet you take issue with it. If you know it’s meaningless why be bothered by it? ESPECIALLY from a fan POV. 

We'll go back and forth on this and resolve nothing. We have always differed on things like this. 

[Stradling]

10 minutes ago, REDneck said:

Yes. WINNING!

No shit. But even when you are winning there’s going to be a narrative. 

[daygloman]

It's harder to win the wild card, than it is, to win the West.

To win the wild card, you need to beat 3 divisions.

This season is in in the shitter I'm VERY sorry to say.

Barring a miracle, and that shit "IN REALITY" don't happen.

They made the bed, we've got to lie in it.

Go Halos, anyway.

 

[fan_since79]

Again, injuries have killed us. The unusual number of them have decimated this team.

Giolito and Detmers had bad games. I think they'll do better down the stretch.

[Chico]

7 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

So is your spelling.

I'll try to do beter next time.

[CaliAngel]

47 minutes ago, daygloman said:

It's harder to win the wild card, than it is, to win the West.

 

This graphic is quite sobering.

Unless we go on a stretch of 10 and 2, 15 and 5, 20 and 7, etc...it is going to be nearly impossible to catch up and/or place in either scenario.

And unfortunately with what we have now and how we're playing, I just don't see it happening.

Detmers repeatedly giving up a lead the very next half-inning after our offense tied up the game is mind-numbingly frustrating.

[daygloman]

4 minutes ago, CaliAngel said:

This graphic is quite sobering.

Unless we go on a stretch of 10 and 2, 15 and 5, 20 and 7, etc...it is going to be nearly impossible to catch up and/or place in either scenario.

And unfortunately with what we have now and how we're playing, I just don't see it happening.

Detmers repeatedly giving up a lead the very next half-inning after our offense tied up the game is mind-numbingly frustrating.

The writing is on the wall.

[SoCalDucksFan]

20 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

Again, injuries have killed us. The unusual number of them have decimated this team.

Giolito and Detmers had bad games. I think they'll do better down the stretch.

How many excuses over how many years, can there be?  Ohtani hasn't played in a single Playoff game since his career began in Anaheim.  You can only blame injuries so many times.  Every team deals with them.  When your roster is deep, you can work through them, but the overall Angels lineup and minor leaguers are simply just not good.

[cysomeawfulpitcher]

Is it so much to ask for one winning season, Arte?  Just a winning regular season, no playoffs?  Not this 80-82 turn the page BS?