Angels struggle to produce offense in loss to Astros – Daily Bulletin

Taylor Ward of the Los Angeles Angels begins to return to second base after advancing on a single by Willie Calhoun against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

ANAHEIM — The Angels tweaked their lineup Saturday against the Houston Astros, but the result was eerily similar to the day before.

The Angels failed to muster a hit as Yordan Alvarez continued to crush the ball for the Astros, totaling a 6-1 Houston win in Game 2 of the three-game series at Angel Stadium.

The Angels (24-40) lost 7-1 in the series opener Friday night when left-hander Framber Valdez threw a four-hitter and Alvarez hit a three-run double in the five-run seventh inning. .

Valdez finished 3 for 3 with two doubles, a single and was hit by a pitch. He drove in two runs and scored two.

“I wanted to walk him, but I can’t walk him when first and second base are busy,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “Every chance he got, we had to pay for it. »

Houston starter Hunter Brown (2-5) wasn’t as effective as Valdez, but figured out what worked as the game went on. He shut out the Angels on two hits over six innings, striking out seven, walking four and hitting one batter.

For the second straight night, a solo home run was all the production the Angels could muster, this time by Nolan Schanuel in the seventh inning.

Angels starter Tyler Anderson (5-6) went six innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. He struck out three and walked one.

The Astros (30-35) entered Saturday’s game with MLB’s 21st ERA (4.22), but the Angels hadn’t scored more than four runs in 14 straight games.

Chas McCormick led off the third with a triple off the wall in right field. Jose Altuve then sent him home with a line drive single to left for a 1-0 lead.

After the Astros loaded the bases on a walk and hit batter, Anderson retired the next two batters, but Jake Meyers came through with a single to left, scoring Altuve for a 2-0 lead.

Alex Bregman beat out a one-out infield single in the fifth before Alvarez lined a 3-1 pitch into the crowd in right for a 4-0 lead.

“The only chance I get to walk him is when he comes in and no one’s on the bag, but I’ve never had a chance to walk him,” Washington said of Alvarez. “Those are the baseball gods at work there.”

Rafael Montero relieved Brown to start the seventh and got the first two outs before Schanuel lined a home run to right to cut the lead to 4-1.

After the home run, the Angels loaded the bases with three consecutive walks, the third after Houston catcher Yainer Diaz failed to catch a pop-up behind home plate by Willie Calhoun.

Angels shortstop Zach Neto, who had never hit between third and sixth in the batting order during his two-year MLB career, came in at fifth and is crushed weakly at first base to end the inning.

“If you look at the lineup I had to field tonight, he was in front of a group of guys that were behind him,” Washington said of Neto. “He hit .250, if you look at the rest (behind him), it was .130, .140, .190.”

Matt Thaiss was also in the starting lineup for the first time in a week, but he struck out with the bases loaded in the first inning against Brown, who came in with a 14.34 ERA in the first period this season. season.

“All night we put ourselves in position to put some runs on the board, but we just couldn’t find a hit,” Washington said. “If we could have done something in any of those situations, it would have made a difference in this game.”

The Angels were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position through the first four innings before finishing 0-for-7.

“We have a group of young guys that just have to learn in these situations to try to keep the line moving,” Washington said. “Sometimes they try to go out there and do more than they should. All we have to do is keep trying to pass the baton and good things can happen.

The Astros, meanwhile, went 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position, including RBI singles by Diaz and Mauricio Dubon in the eighth that increased the lead to 6-1.