Angels' 'pen pounded in blowout loss

The Angels' bullpen was supposed to be — and still could be — one of the strengths of the team.

But this one is going to leave a mark.

Angels relievers allowed 11 runs, including eight in the seventh inning, in a 13-6 loss to the Houston Astros on Friday night at Angel Stadium.

The Angels have dropped the first two games of the season, coming up short in a pitchers' duel on Opening Day and then getting blown out a night later.

Relievers Oliver Ortega (two runs), Mike Mayers (three), Jimmy Herget (four) and Jaime Barria (two) allowed a tie game in the fifth to turn into a lopsided loss.

Angel Stadium was filled with 42,719 fans on a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night, and they left with nothing to celebrate besides their new memorabilia.

Although the Angels' bullpen let the game get away at the end, in the first half of the game the Astros' defense was the difference.

Left fielder Michael Brantley made a perfect throw to nail Jared Walsh at the plate in the first. Third baseman Alex Bregman made a diving stop of a chopper by Tyler Wade in the second inning. In the fourth, just after a leadoff double by Jose Rojas, Brandon Marsh was robbed of a hit on a diving catch by center fielder José Siri.

Siri then started the top of the fifth by using his speed to create

THE SCORE

ASTROS 13, ANGELS 6

Up next: Astros at Angels, today, 6:07 p.m., BSW

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the tie-breaking run.

Siri led off against Ortega with a bloop single. He then stole second and took third on a fly ball to right field. José Altuve then hit a bouncer directly to third baseman Anthony Rendon, who took a look at Siri and threw to first. Siri went back to the bag when Rendon looked at him, but the moment he turned away to throw to first, Siri bolted home. With Siri running at an elite 31.2 feet per second, first baseman Walsh rushed and made a bad throw home, allowing the run to score.

Ortega then gave up a homer to Bregman in the sixth, opening the floodgates. Mayers started the seventh and didn't retire any of the three hitters he faced.

While the bullpen had a bad night, starter Reid Detmers could have saved them a little work if he'd been more efficient. Detmers gave up a pair of solo homers, to José Altuve leading off the game and to Aledmys Diaz in the fourth. He needed 29 pitches to get out of the first, which didn't bode well for him on a night when he was limited to around 80 pitches because of the shortened spring.

It took Detmers 75 pitches to get 12 outs.

Detmers left in a 2-2 game, the Angels having scored both of their runs in the first inning.