ANAHEIM — Just when the Angels found enough pitching to slow down the Philadelphia Phillies’ dangerous lineup, they couldn’t find a big hit.
The Angels wasted a solid performance on the mound in a 2-1 loss to the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon.
Starter Patrick Sandoval gave up both runs on a second-inning single, but then he didn’t give up anything else through five innings. Four Angels relievers then shut out the Phillies.
The Angels had opportunities to do damage against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, but could only manage an Ehire Adrianza solo homer in the second inning.
The Angels had multiple baserunners against Wheeler in the first and third innings, and they had a leadoff double in the fifth. They couldn’t push home any runs in those spots. Matt Thaiss struck out to end the first and third and Luis Rengifo hit a 101-mph lineout to end the fifth.
In the eighth, the Angels had three singles but didn’t score. Taylor Ward was caught trying to steal second base after his leadoff hit. Logan O’Hoppe hit a 111-mph lineout to left field for the second out of the inning.
In the ninth, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel singled, putting the tying run at third with one out. Jo Adell then struck out and Taylor Ward hit a flyout to the warning track in left, ending the game.
The Angels finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
With the loss, the Angels (11-20) came up short in their bid to win a series for the first time in a month.
They could at least take some solace in the performance of Sandoval, who struck out 10.
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He was shaky in the first two innings, including a two-out walk to No. 9 hitter Cristian Pache just before Kyle Schwarber’s bases-loaded single.
After that, he gave up just one single in the final three innings.
Sandoval threw 36 sliders and 27 changeups among his 102 pitches, the second straight start in which he largely shelved his two fastballs. He threw 14 first-pitch strikes in the 21 batters he faced, a significant improvement from his previous outings.
More to come on this story.
