ANAHEIM — It wasn’t so much the first inning that got Griffin Canning in trouble this time. It was the first, second and fourth innings that put the Angels in a sizable hole that neither Canning nor the rest of the team could completely overcome.
But the Angels tried with a late rally that came up short in a 6-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Trailing, 6-0, the Angels scored three runs in the ninth before putting two men on first and second base. Taylor Ward then blasted a 2-and-2 pitch to the wall that Rhys Hoskins managed to snag, ending the Angels’ comeback bid.
Canning came into the game against the Brewers having allowed 18 earned runs in his 14 first innings this season. He said after his previous outing that he has had trouble settling in. It took him a few innings longer on Tuesday, which only made things worse for the right-hander.
Canning was looking to end a series of rocky starts, but he never seemingly found his groove as the game wore on and the Brewers held on.
The Brewers took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the first on a home run by Christian Yelich, his sixth this season and 200th of the former Westlake High star’s career. They added another run in the second when center fielder Sal Frelick, who had doubled, scored on a wild pitch by Canning.
Canning managed to get out of a sticky third inning when a quick-thinking throw by second baseman Brandon Drury to catcher Logan O’Hoppe on an attempted steal of home prevented the early going from getting worse for Canning. Until it did.
The Brewers struck for three more runs in the fourth on a two-run double by Jackson Chourio, who then scored on a fielding error by Jo Adell, the Angels’ third miscue of the game.
After putting two on in the sixth, Canning (2-8) was done, getting tagged for all six runs – five of them earned – leaving him with a bloated 5.02 ERA. He gave up eight hits and struck out four while burning through 100 pitches in his fourth consecutive loss.
Right-hander Roansy Contreras came on with no outs in the sixth and immediately loaded the bases by walking Frelick. The Brewers then added another run on Chourio’s sacrifice fly to right, scoring Rhys Hoskins, who had singled to start the inning for a 6-0 lead.
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Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers (4-2) limited the Angels to no runs on four hits before exiting in the seventh. He struck out six and walked two in picking up the victory.
With two outs in the second, the Angels got back-to-back singles from Drury and Zach Neto, but they couldn’t get them across the plate.
Drury started at second in his first game back off the injured list. He had missed 34 games because of a hamstring injury he suffered on May 8.
The Angels again got two men on in the sixth, including Nolan Schanuel who went 3 for 5 for the game, but stranded them when Willie Calhoun hit into a double play.
More to come on this story.