ANAHEIM — The Angels have wasted some pretty good pitching this week.
Thanks to an offense that has been virtually nonexistent, the Angels were swept by the New York Yankees, losing 1-0 in the series finale on Wednesday night.
The Angels held the powerful Yankees to nine runs in three games – including holding two-time American League MVP Aaron Judge without an extra-base hit – but it was all for naught because they scored only two runs.
They had a runner on first base in the bottom of the ninth, but Logan O’Hoppe was called out on a strikes to end the game.
The Angels (25-30) were shut out in the first and last games of the series, as their losing streak extended to five games. That came immediately after they won eight in a row, scoring 7.6 runs per game in the process. They’ve now scored a total of five runs in the losses.
They also lost No. 3 hitter Yoán Moncada, who left the game after five innings with right knee soreness. There was no immediate word on how much time he might miss.
The Angels only had a runner in scoring position in three innings. They were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, including three strikeouts.
The offensive ineptitude spoiled a night in which every Angels pitcher who took the mound acquitted himself well.
Starter Yusei Kikuchi put on a clinic in pitching around trouble in the first three innings.
Kikuchi needed 27 pitches to get through the first, allowing just one run even though he gave up a double, a walk and a single. He also intentionally walked Aaron Judge.
In the second, he threw another 17 pitches. He gave up two more hits and two more walks, including another intentional walk to Judge. This time he escaped with the help of a double play.
After that, he got through the next three innings without much trouble. He issued a walk and retired the other nine hitters.
While Kikuchi only gave up one run, his pitch count reached 93, ending his night after five innings.
The Angels’ Opening Day starter, Kikuchi has not gotten deeper than six innings in any of his 12 starts. That’s mostly been because he’s already walked 35 hitters – three intentionally – in 64⅔ innings. Last season he walked 44 in 175⅔ innings.
Robert Stephenson followed Kikuchi to the mound, pitching an impressive inning in his first outing after nearly 14 months rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He last pitched in the majors with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023, before the Angels signed him to a three-year, $33 million deal.
Stephenson needed just 12 pitches to retire the side in order, with two strikeouts. The Yankees whiffed on five of their six swings at his slider. His sinker reached 98.5 mph.
The Angels also got strong work from reliever Ryan Zeferjahn, who went through the top of the Yankees’ lineup for a scoreless seventh. He struck out Judge looking to retire the side.
Left-hander Reid Detmers worked a scoreless eighth. Detmers had a three-game nightmare about four weeks ago, but since then he’s allowed one run in his last eight innings, with 11 strikeouts.
Left-hander Brock Burke, who has also been better after a rough start, worked a scoreless ninth.
More to come on this story.
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