Angels blanked by Yankees in 5th straight loss

ANAHEIM — The Angels have wasted some pretty good pitching this week.

Thanks to an offense that has been virtually nonexistent, the Angels were swept by the New York Yankees, losing 1-0 in the series finale on Wednesday night.

The Angels held the powerful Yankees to nine runs in three games – including holding two-time American League MVP Aaron Judge without an extra-base hit – but it was all for naught because they scored only two runs.

They had a runner on first base in the bottom of the ninth, but Logan O’Hoppe was called out on strikes to end the game. Even worse, it was on a pitch that was clearly a few inches outside.

“It was a ball,” O’Hoppe said, speaking in measured tones with clear disappointment but no anger. “It’s a tough thing because it’s so out of our control. It’s also so part of the game. That’s a tough job back there. Don’t get me wrong. I spend the most time with them, probably second to (catcher Travis d’Arnaud) in here. It is a hard thing to do, so it’s hard to really throw a perfect standard on them. It’s just tough when it’s not the only one of the game. They have tough games, just like we do, and it is part of the game, unfortunately.”

Manager Ron Washington was matter-of-fact in discussing the final call from umpire Ben May.

“It was bad,” Washington said. “I didn’t know it was that far off the plate until I just saw it.”

The Angels (25-30) have bigger problems than a bad call these days. It would not have come down to that if they’d managed any offense at all. They were shut out in the first and last games of the series, as their losing streak extended to five games. That came immediately after they won eight in a row, scoring 7.6 runs per game in the process. They’ve now scored a total of five runs in the losses.

“I don’t know,” O’Hoppe said when asked how the offense could go so cold so quickly. “I don’t know, but we’re not gonna panic. We’ve got (107) games left, so we’re not going to panic. We know stuff happens. Excited to get on the road with a clean slate.”

They’ll hope to have No. 3 hitter Yoan Moncada back on Friday in Cleveland. Moncada left the game after five innings with right knee soreness. He said through an interpreter afterward that he didn’t know how he got hurt, but he considered himself “day to day.”

With or without Moncada, the Angels didn’t muster much of anything on Wednesday night.

The Angels only had a runner in scoring position in three innings. They were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, including three strikeouts.

The offensive ineptitude spoiled a night in which every Angels pitcher who took the mound acquitted himself well.

Starter Yusei Kikuchi put on a clinic in pitching around trouble in the first three innings.

Kikuchi needed 27 pitches to get through the first, allowing just one run even though he gave up a double, a walk and a single. He also intentionally walked Aaron Judge. In the second, he threw another 17 pitches. He gave up two more hits and two more walks, including another intentional walk to Judge. This time he escaped with the help of a double play.

After that, he got through the next three innings without much trouble. He issued a walk and retired the other nine hitters.

“It was tough navigating through the first couple innings there, but I think the fourth and fifth innings went really well,” Kikuchi said through his interpreter. “I think I ended up on a good note.”

While Kikuchi only gave up one run, his pitch count reached 93, ending his night after five innings.

The Angels’ Opening Day starter, Kikuchi has not gotten deeper than six innings in any of his 12 starts. That’s mostly been because he’s already walked 35 hitters – three intentionally – in 64⅔ innings. Last season he walked 44 in 175⅔ innings.

Robert Stephenson followed Kikuchi to the mound, pitching an impressive inning in his first outing after nearly 14 months rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He last pitched in the majors with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023, before the Angels signed him to a three-year, $33 million deal.

Stephenson needed just 12 pitches to retire the side in order, with two strikeouts. The Yankees whiffed on five of their six swings at his slider. His sinker reached 98.5 mph.

“It felt great,” Stephenson said. “Surreal, honestly. It’s (more than) 13 months since I got surgery, and about 20 months since I’ve been in a major league game. It’s pretty surreal to be back out on a big league mound.”

The Angels also got strong work from reliever Ryan Zeferjahn, who went through the top of the Yankees’ lineup for a scoreless seventh. He struck out Judge looking to retire the side.

Left-hander Reid Detmers worked a scoreless eighth, with three strikeouts. Detmers had a three-game nightmare about four weeks ago, but since then he’s allowed one run in his last eight innings, with 11 strikeouts.

Left-hander Brock Burke, who has also been better after a rough start, worked a scoreless ninth.

“Got to give them credit,” Washington said. “He gave up one run in the first, and then the rest of us put up eight zeros. And that’s what it’s about. We just couldn’t put a run on board.”