ANAHEIM — The Angels are trying whatever they can to get out of this rut.
A failed suicide squeeze in the eighth inning cost the Angels a chance at the tying run in a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
With the bases loaded and one out, Zach Neto took off from third as Luis Guillorme squared to bunt. The pitch was well outside and Guillorme couldn’t get the bat on it, so Neto was out at the plate. Guillorme then struck out to end the inning. Cardinals left-hander Jo Jo Romero had walked the previous two hitters before the Angels tried the squeeze.
The missed opportunity cost the Angels on a night when they showed some life by overcoming an early five-run deficit to tie the score in the fifth inning.
But left-hander Amir Garrett hung a 3-and-1 slider to left-handed hitter Alec Burleson, who crushed it for a tie-breaking two-run homer in the seventh inning to put the Cardinals back ahead, 7-5.
The Angels got back one of those runs on a Kevin Pillar RBI single in the seventh, but they couldn’t get any more.
The Angels (15-28) lost for the fifth time in their last six games and dropped to 5-16 at home.
This could have been one of their most encouraging victories.
Down 5-0 in the third inning, the Angels rallied to tie the score by the fifth.
Nolan Schanuel drove in the third with the first of his two hits. In the fourth, Willie Calhoun and Pillar had singles ahead of a Logan O’Hoppe three-run homer. It was O’Hoppe’s third homer of the season.
The Angels completed the comeback with a run on a Taylor Ward sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Although they couldn’t rally for the victory, they at least took Reid Detmers off the hook for a loss.
Detmers allowed five runs – four earned – in five innings.
Over his last four starts he has a 10.61 ERA, which has raised his ERA for the season to 5.19. He began the season with a 2.12 ERA in his first five starts.
There were some positives from this one for Detmers.
He threw 69 of his 95 pitches for strikes, which is a very good ratio. He also had slightly more velocity on his fastball than usual.
In the second inning, he gave up two runs, one on a wild pitch and a second when third baseman Cole Tucker made a bad throw on what should have been an out at the plate.
In the third, Detmers loaded the bases with one out – including an infield hit and a walk. He struck out Nolan Gorman for the second out, but then he hung a 3-and-2 curve to Pedro Pagés, who yanked a ground ball just inside third base for a three-run double.
At that point the Angels were down 5-0, but the hitters soon came to life and Detmers tacked on two scoreless innings.
More to come on this story.
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