MINNEAPOLIS — The hits against Kyle Hendricks weren’t what got him. The takes did.
After Hendricks issued a career-high five walks in the Angels’ 11-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday night, the right-hander said he suspected that he was tipping his pitches.
“I feel the misses were right there,” Hendricks said. “They were just spitting on really good pitches. So I don’t know if I’m just telegraphing stuff. They kind of knew what’s coming type of thing. We’ve just got to dig in and find something. Because it really wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
Besides the walks, Hendricks hit two batters. His career average is 2.1 walks per nine innings. The major league average this season is 3.5.
“Very uncharacteristic,” Hendricks said. “I don’t know. Just a little bit lost. Got to go back and look at it. They were just kind of on everything.”
Hendricks said he’s had issues tipping pitches throughout his career. If opponents know what’s coming and he’s not able to hit his spots perfectly, he’s in trouble.
“I can’t give in, with the stuff I’ve got right now,” said Hendricks, whose fastball averages 86 mph. “I gotta stay on the corners. Just got to get ahead better, and get them in swing mode in some way.”
Three of Hendricks’ free passes – two walks and a hit batter – loaded the bases in the first inning. The Twins scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly.
The Angels were down 3-1 in the fourth when Hendricks let the game get out of hand. He allowed the first four batters of the inning to reach – three on walks.
That was the end of the night for Hendricks, who saw a total of seven runs charged to his line after all three runners he left for Carl Edwards Jr. scored.
Afterward, the easy assumption was that the poor outing was at least partly because of the Angels’ difficult travel schedule getting to Minneapolis.
The Angels got to their hotel after 5 a.m. local time, less than 14 hours before the first pitch on Friday’s game. Hendricks had the option of skipping Thursday night’s game in Anaheim to fly early and get a full night’s rest, but he opted to travel with the team.
Hendricks said that’s been the way he’s handled these situations throughout his career.
“I’m not the kind of guy to come sit here and just twiddle my thumbs in the hotel room,” Hendricks said. “I got nine, 10 hours of sleep like a regular day.”
Hendricks added that he felt “phenomenal” physically, and that the the travel had “zero” impact on his performance.
“No way,” he said. “No way.”
Manager Ron Washington agreed that the Angels did not have the travel as an excuse.
“I didn’t see where it did,” he said. “We just didn’t pitch very well.”
The Angels still scored four runs and had 10 hits, their most since April 10. Mike Trout hit his ninth homer of the season and Logan O’Hoppe hit his seventh. Trout also drove in a run with a single.
“We out-hit them (10-8),” Washington said. “We just didn’t outscore them. That was because from the second, third inning on, we just couldn’t stop their bats.”
The blowout allowed Victor Mederos to get an opportunity. Mederos had not performed well in his previous brief major league opportunities, but the Angels hoped his improved control early in this minor league season would be a sign of his improvement.
Mederos gave up two runs, including two walks, in his first inning, but then he added two scoreless innings.