CLEVELAND — Considering the two stops on this trip and the way the Angels have played lately, it should be no surprise what happened.
The Angels ended their miserable six-game trip with a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, getting swept in the three games.
The Angels have now lost 29 of their last 33 games in Cleveland. They haven’t won a series here since 2013.
Before coming to Cleveland, the Angels lost two of three in Toronto, where they have now dropped 11 of their last 13 games.
And all of this came after the Angels went winless on their previous trip, against the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox.
The Angels (16-28) are a season-worst 12-games under .500. Since starting the season 11-10, they’ve lost 18 of their last 23 games.
The problem has mostly been an offense that has failed to produce three runs in 14 of those 23 games.
Zach Neto, who was dropped form the leadoff spot before the game, hit a two-run homer in the fifth to provide the only runs.
That briefly brought them within 3-2 after an ugly start.
Left-hander Reid Detmers gave up a homer to the first batter he faced. Guardians outfielder Angel Martinez did a nice job hitting a slider that was below the zone.
Detmers also walked two batters and hit one. He allowed the Guardians to steal four bases in the first three innings.
Third baseman Yoán Moncada also made an error on a routine ground ball to start the third inning, leading to an unearned run.
After three innings, Detmers had thrown 30 strikes and 29 balls. However, he pulled it together for a couple innings, setting down the Guardians in order in the fourth and fifth innings, with three strikeouts.
In the sixth, though, Neto couldn’t make the play on a one-out ground ball in the hole. Detmers then gave up a pair of softly hit two-out singles to left-handed hitters, giving the Guardians an insurance run.
A two-run deficit was too steep of a hill for the Angels to climb the way their hitters have been producing lately.
At times in the slump, they have done a decent job of getting opportunities but a poor job of cashing them in, but in this game they barely even had any opportunities.
The Angels had four hits and four walks. They were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.
More to come on this story.