ANAHEIM — After a night with plenty of fight, it was a passive afternoon for the Angels on Wednesday as their season-opening homestand showed a split personality.
The Angels fell to the Atlanta Braves, 8-2, to finish 3-3 on their first stay at home this season. The road beckons again at 6-7 overall, with clear signs there is more to offer.
Reid Detmers’ return to the rotation continues to be a work in progress, while the offense has struggled to meet expectations. Detmers (0-1) gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits over 4⅓ innings, while the lineup was held scoreless over the final seven innings.
Jorge Soler did his best to supply the energy, much like he did Tuesday when he exchanged blows with Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez. Soler received a seven-game suspension for the aggression but was available to play after filing an appeal.
In his first at-bat, to lead off the second inning, Soler vented with a two-run home run off of Atlanta right-hander Grant Holmes. The lineup hardly made another dent off Holmes, who was coming off a scoreless six-inning outing at Arizona last Friday when he gave up just one hit.
As the outs piled up, the hitting numbers dropped for the Angels, who entered third from the bottom of the American League at the start of the game with a .200 team batting average. They were fourth from the bottom with a .645 OPS.
Those marks dropped to .198 and .639 respectively.
The Angels have shown some power with 15 home runs, counting Soler’s blast. But leadoff hitter Zach Neto is batting .231 after a hit Wednesday and twice tried to bunt with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning. He eventually flew out to shallow right field.
Mike Trout is batting .190 and Logan Hoppe is hitting .219 after a ninth-inning infield single. Yoan Moncada (.083) and Josh Lowe (.091) appear to have nowhere to go but up.
“Obviously, they know where they’re at right now and they’re working to be better,” first-year Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said about Moncada and Lowe in particular. “You would like for them to have results with the amount of work they are putting in.
“They just have to keep going. I know it’s a repetitive answer but in this game, you’ve got to just keep swinging and keep your mind in the right spot.”
Trout has returned after a scare Sunday when he was hit in the left hand by a pitch, but has gone 1 for 9 with three strikeouts over the past two games after a day off Monday. Trout struck out in the seventh inning Wednesday, leaving runners stranded on the corners.
Dropped into a relief role last season where he made 61 appearances, Detmers had the worst start of his return to the rotation. In addition to four strikeouts, he had two walks and has six free passes over his past two outings.
But he did hold the Seattle Mariners without a run over 6⅔ innings on Friday. His next outing will come at Yankee Stadium, where he has not given up a run in three outings (one start) and 6⅓ innings.
More to come on this story.