CHICAGO — As Manager Kurt Suzuki walked to the mound in the seventh inning, Angels fans might have wanted to close their eyes.
Moments later, they were no doubt shouting at their televisions, suffering through a second game in which veteran left-hander Drew Pomeranz was at the center of a bullpen meltdown.
This time the Angels blew a four-run lead in the seventh inning, on their way to an 8-7 loss to the Chicago White Sox in a game that began after a 3-hour rain delay on Monday and ended at 12:34 a.m., local time, on Tuesday.
Just a day earlier, they led by six runs early, by three runs in the ninth and one run in the 10th, only to lose to the Kansas City Royals.
The Angels (12-18) have now lost four in a row, with a blowout coming just before the two bullpen disasters. Two weeks ago they blew two ninth-inning leads at Yankee Stadium.
Pomeranz was responsible for the two most recent blown saves, although he wasn’t the only ineffective reliever either day.
On Monday night, starter Jack Kochanowicz had pitched six strong innings when he took the mound in the seventh with a 5-1 lead. He induced a routine ground ball to start the inning, but shortstop Zach Neto let it go under his glove, for an error. After a bunt single, Suzuki pulled Kochanowicz at 90 pitches.
Right-hander Nick Sandlin, who did not pitch in Sunday’s game, didn’t retire any of the three hitters he faced. He allowed two hits and hit a batter, as three runs scored.
At that point, the Angels were still up 5-4 and Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami was stepping up to the plate.
Suzuki went to Pomeranz.
On a full count, Pomeranz threw a 93 mph fastball at the bottom of the zone, over the middle of the plate, and Murakami drilled it over the right field fence, for a three-run homer to give the White Sox the lead.
Pomeranz hadn’t given up a homer to a left-handed hitter since 2019, and he’s now done it two days in a row.
A few pitches later, Pomeranz gave up a homer to a righty, Miguel Vargas, to give the White Sox an insurance run.
That spoiled the work of Kochanowicz, who cruised through his first six innings. He worked around two hits in the first inning, and he gave up a run on two hits in the fifth. Otherwise, he faced just three or four batters in his other four innings.
The Angels’ hitters also did enough to win, collecting 14 hits and nearly mounting their own winning rally in the ninth.
Jorge Soler drove in a ninth-inning run with a groundout, adding to his sacrifice fly and homer from earlier in the game. Nolan Schanuel then blooped a double into left, knocking in another run.
The rally ended when Adam Frazier grounded out, stranding the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
More to come on this story.