WASHINGTON — Extra innings again proved extra miserable for the Angels.
After rallying from a four-run deficit Saturday against the Washington Nationals, the Angels gave up runs in the ninth and 10th innings to drop a 6-5 decision before an announced crowd of 25,713 at Nationals Park.
The Angels mustered only four hits and fell to 4-14 in extra-inning games and have dropped seven in a row – all in the 10th inning.
The loss left the Angels at 3-5 on a three-city swing that began with stops in Pittsburgh and Boston and ensured they would not secure their first winning road trip since April and second of the season even with a victory in Sunday’s series finale.
José Fermin (4-3) walked Daylen Lile with one out in the 10th, and then he and automatic runner CJ Abrams executed a double steal. Nationals catcher Harry Ford then slapped a grounder to drawn-in shortstop Zach Neto, who couldn’t collect the ball as Abrams crossed the plate for the winning run.
Washington’s Jack Sinclair (1-0) pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings to earn his first major-league victory.
The Angels didn’t collect a hit until Jose Siri’s sixth-inning double. It was the only hit Washington starter Andrew Alvarez allowed, and the Los Alamitos High graduate set career bests in innings (seven) and strikeouts (eight) and tied a career high with 97 pitches while retiring 16 of the last 18 Angels he faced.
Yet Alvarez’s departure created an opportunity for the Angels to attack Washington’s woebegone bullpen, which this week set a major-league record for blown saves in a season.
Working with a 4-0 lead, Brad Lord set down the first two Angels in the eighth, but walked Mike Trout before pinch hitter Wade Meckler drilled an RBI double to right. Vaughn Grissom followed by pulling a two-run shot to left, his 11th homer of the season, to get the Angels within 4-3.
The Angels quickly placed pressure on Will Dion in the ninth. Oswald Peraza led off with a walk, then scored on Denzer Guzman’s double into the left-field corner to tie it as the Nationals blew their 39th save of the year. Two batters later, Guzman advanced to third on a wild pitch before coming in on catcher Moisés Ballesteros’ sacrifice fly.
Ben Joyce was quickly foiled in his attempt to close out an improbable comeback victory. He walked leadoff pinch-hitter José Tena, who stole second as James Wood struck out and moved up to third when catcher Ballesteros’ throw zipped into center. Andrés Chaparro followed with a single to center to tie it.
Angels starter Walbert Ureña gave up four runs for only the second time in 12 starts since the beginning of July. He struck out seven while yielding nine hits and two walks.
Ureña’s greatest problems came in an inning he nearly escaped without incurring any damage. On Jacob Young’s two-out single to left in the second, Siri delivered a throw to the plate that seemingly beat Washington’s Keibert Ruiz. But Nationals manager Blake Butera challenged home-plate umpire Steve Jaschinski’s call, and the replay ruled Ruiz slipped under catcher Tyler Heineman’s tag.
Wood then tapped an infield single before stealing second to put two runners in scoring position, and Abimelec Ortiz dutifully drove both in with a single to right to make it 4-0.
More to come on this story.