ANAHEIM — The Angels are becoming adept at the Almost Win.
They hung with the Philadelphia Phillies and ace Cristopher Sánchez on Saturday, pushing the game to extra innings on Zach Neto’s game-tying homer in the eighth.
In the end, though, they still lost, 4-2, in 10 innings, their sixth straight loss.
The constants throughout this streak, and for most of August, have been quality pitching and an offense not good enough to take advantage of it, which has left them playing a lot of games like this one. All six of the losses in this streak have been by one or two runs. They haven’t lost a game by more than three runs since Aug. 8.
“Definitely heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, whatever you want to call it,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “But at the same time, they’re professionals. These guys are resilient, man. Even when we got down by three (in the top of the 10th), they found a way to get guys on and then bring the tying run up to the plate (in the bottom of the inning). They’ll never stop fighting. They’ll never stop battling. I’m not too concerned in that aspect.”
A key hit here or there or a key out when they need it could have made a big difference.
It took all the Angels (52-84) had to keep the Phillies at one run for nine innings, especially after Ryan Johnson’s rough first two innings.
Their short-handed bullpen — they currently have six starters, so one fewer reliever — was left with newcomer Trevor Martin on the mound. Martin, who was claimed on waivers earlier this month, got through the eighth and ninth with no damage.
In the 10th, though, he gave up three hits, allowing the Phillies to score three runs.
That was too deep of a hole for the Angels and their struggling offense. The Angels got their automatic runner home in the bottom of the inning, but nothing else.
They had only four hits on Saturday night, two against Sanchez in seven innings.
In the eighth, they were down 1-0 when Neto fought Phillies’ right-hander Jonathan Bowlan through a 12-pitch at-bat. He fouled off four 3-and-2 pitches before launching one over the left-field fence, his 23rd homer of the season.
“Just be able to end that at-bat like that and tie the game up in a big situation, I think it’s pretty cool,” Neto said.
It was the first time since Kole Calhoun in 2016 that an Angels player hit a homer in a plate appearance of 12 or more pitches.
The homer spared Johnson a loss on a night that he made an impressive turnaround from a nightmarish first two innings.
In the first inning, Johnson walked two of the first three hitters before escaping with a double play.
In the second, he gave up two hits and two walks within the first five hitters, pushing home the game’s first run and loading the bases with one out for the top of the Phillies order.
At any moment, you expected the Phillies to put a three or four runs on the board.
Johnson, however, got Kyle Schwarber on a shallow fly ball, not deep enough to score the run, and then he got Trea Turner on a fly ball, finishing the inning with his 60th pitch of the game.
After that, Johnson came out as a different pitcher in the third. Over the next three innings, he retired nine of the 10 hitters he faced on just 28 pitches.
Once again, Johnson has continued to streamline his repertoire, which is something the new pitching coaches have stressed. He threw 53 cutters and two sinkers. Over the past three starts, he has thrown 147 cutters and 11 sinkers. Prior to those games, he was throwing them about equally.
In those three games, Johnson has allowed three runs in 17⅓ innings. Over his last five starts, he has a 1.71 ERA.
“I feel like I’ve definitely made some strides and progress over the last month, getting comfortable and what I do well,” Johnson said. “The catchers are getting to know me well and they’re calling a great game. I feel like there’s good chemistry back there. I’m working well with them.”
Angels starters as a group have a major-league best 2.57 ERA in August, but their offense — and bullpen — have struggled so much that all it’s gotten them is a month full of frustration, and plenty of games like this one.
“We’re fighting,” Neto said. “We’ve been fighting all year and it’s just not going our way right now, but we’re not going to moan. We’re not going to cry about it. We’re going to flip the switch here at midnight and come in tomorrow and try to avoid a sweep.”