Angels’ offense goes cold as win streak ends
They manage just four hits, two from Fletcher, while Sandoval endures a frustrating night.
Patrick Sandoval could only watch as Minnesota Twins left fielder Gilberto Celestino smacked his 1-and-1 slider over the left-field wall and into the visiting bullpen in the second inning.
The starting pitcher with a usually reliable slider happened to get bit hard on that pitch. It allowed not just Celestino to score, but also Gio Urshela, giving the Twins a two-run lead.
It was all the offense the Twins really needed as the Angels again left runners stranded, failing to put up any run support. The Angels’ three-game winning streak ended with 4-0 loss.
Sandoval’s outing was decent, though definitely not strong. He finished after five innings, giving up two earned runs and five hits, walking four batters and striking out four over 95 pitches thrown (55 for strikes).
His first walk happened on the
first batter he faced, Byron Buxton.
“Not happy with how I threw the ball today,” Sandoval said of not having his best stuff. “Four walks is embarrassing. Big props to the defense behind me making big plays.
“It was there some at-bats and then some at-bats it just wasn’t. It’s just frustrating.”
One of those big defensive plays came in the third. Sandy Leon, who also reached on a walk, was trying to reach home three batters later, on a single by Jose Miranda.
Miranda’s hit ended up with Jo Adell in left field and Adell managed to make the throw to catcher Max Stassi in time, eliciting ravenous cheers from the home crowd.
The Angels mustered just three hits off of Twins starter Tyler Mahle.
Two of those three hits came from David Fletcher, who continued to impress at the plate since returning from significant injury, with two singles, one in the first and the second in the third. Both times he was left stranded.
Mending Trout says he feels good
The Angels’ season has gone off the rails for several reasons. Among them are the freak injuries that have hindered the team at just about every step of the way.
From Mike Trout’s uncommon back injury to Anthony Rendon’s wrist, the list is robust.
Trout, who in July was diagnosed with costovertebral dysfunction at T5 — a joint at the thoracic section of his back, where a rib connects to his spine — has continued to make progress.
The slugger said that aside from starting to hit off a tee, he’s been able to play catch in the batting cages and will start to hit on the field Saturday.
“Everything feels good,” Trout said when asked how he feels swinging and throwing.
Ohtani’s former coach visits
Shohei Ohtani said during All-Star week that he wanted to play in the World Baseball Classic and was under the impression the Angels would let him.
Hideki Kuriyama — who was Ohtani’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters manager and is the manager of the Japanese national baseball team, called Samurai Japan — has been on a nationwide tour to meet with Major League Baseball players who could potentially compete for Japan’s WBC team. He had not spoken to Ohtani about playing for Japan in the WBC by the time he addressed members of the media before the Angels’ game and did not have an answer whether Ohtani would play for them.
He did reflect briefly on Ohtani’s career. “As a person who was entrusted by his parents, more than being or feeling happy, I feel relieved that he’s performing like this in the majors,” Kuriyama said in Japanese.
On Friday, Ohtani went 0 for 4 and struck out twice. During his second at-bat of the game, he was visibly unhappy with a strike call. Booing of plate umpire Cory Blaser ensued and a camera with a feed to the jumbotron at the stadium panned to Kuriyama, watching Ohtani.