Astros frustrate Angels
The joyful, carefree days of youth were easy to conjure upon looking at the Angels.
They wore Little Leagueinspired jerseys with nicknames on the back as part of a youth-based initiative by Major League Baseball.
There was no kidlike celebration, though, after their offense struggled for the second straight night Friday in a 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium.
The Angels’ one-run output, with 11 strikeouts, was a day after they were shut out by the Texas Rangers.
Perhaps what made this tougher to reconcile were that the late threats were there.
Mike Trout worked a full count with the bases loaded in the seventh inning but popped out.
Andrelton Simmons hit into a double play in the eighth inning with a man on.
Cliff Pennington singled
with two outs in the ninth before Kaleb Cowart grounded out.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia mentioned some fine defensive plays by Houston.
“But the bottom line is we need to start pressuring teams, getting on base and doing some of the things we can do,” Scioscia said. “The last couple of nights we haven’t been able to do that.”
Parker Bridwell, the Angels’ most consistent starter the last few weeks, with a 5-0 record since early July before Friday, did his part for most of the night in his first career start against Houston.
He was penalized on two pitches — one hit for a home run, and the second, a wild pitch, scored Houston’s other run.
“I thought I executed my pitches pretty well, other than that first one,” Bridwell said of the home run.
“I kind of thought just get first strike. I ran [it] back over the plate and he made a good swing on it.”
Bridwell recovered from that third-inning leadoff home run (by Cal State Fullerton product J.D. Davis) and retired the next seven batters until George Springer led off the sixth inning with a double. Springer moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch inside to give Houston a 2-1 lead.
“Pretty wild,” Bridwell said. “It was supposed to go outside. That’s the thing. But it’s just one of those things I pulled off a fastball and yanked it in the wrong situation.”
Houston’s Collin McHugh improved to 7-2 in his career against the Angels, including five straight wins dating to 2014.
The uniforms were part of the league’s Players Weekend, which is intended to show players’ personalities, particularly to kids, and it also raises money for youth and amateur baseball.
“Kids are the future of this game, so I think it’s a great idea what they’re doing and for MLB to have a weekend like this,” Albert Pujols said before the game.
Pujols has “The Machine” on his jersey, a reference to his ESPN “SportsCenter” commercial.
“That’s the nickname that kind of got stuck with me,” Pujols said.
The start was not kid friendly. Houston bench coach Alex Cora was ejected 10 pitches into the game.
He shouted at home umpire Laz Diaz and flung papers into the air upon his departure.
A few minutes later, Kole Calhoun hit an RBI two-out double for the game’s first run. Hurricane Harvey
Pennington, from Corpus Christi, Texas, said his parents and siblings evacuated the city in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey.
Pennington was checking his phone often to see how bad it would get. He said he never experienced anything on this scale when he grew up there. “We had a few near misses,” Pennington said. “Most of them, when I was a kid, went up the coast and went to Louisiana. So they were the ones that got it. [But] not this bad and directly on Corpus since before I was born.”
Short hops
Garrett Richards completed another simulated game and Scioscia opened the possibility that his next appearance could be with triple-A Salt Lake. Scioscia has said that Richards could initially be brought up for a limited start of about 60 pitches for the Angels in September. … The Angels claimed right hander Blake Wood off waivers. Matt Shoemaker was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. … Pitcher Mike Morin was recalled and Jefry Marte was optioned to Salt Lake. … Ben Revere (knee contusion) has improved but was held out of the starting lineup. … Trout was named to the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame.