Angels’ slumping offense leads to 5th straight loss

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The Angels’ Taylor Ward hits an RBI single in the fifth inning for the team’s only run and one of two hits in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
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Angels starting pitcher Griffin Canning throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

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CHICAGO — The Angels have been going quietly – and quickly – this week.

Although the Angels ended their 22-inning scoreless streak, they still lost 5-1 to the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon, seeing just 95 pitches in a complete game from left-hander Justin Steele.

Two days ago the Angels were shut out by Oakland A’s right-hander Joey Estes, seeing only 92 pitches from him.

There have only been 17 complete games so far in the majors this season – a sign of hitters working deeper counts and starters on shorter leashes – but two of those have been this week against the Angels.

“If you’re gonna go at a first pitch, you’ve got to barrel it,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “We just haven’t been barreling it. That’s the way our offense has been since we left home and came on this road trip, so we’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got to figure it out. We’re not as bad as we’ve shown in the last three games offensively. But we’ve got to figure something out.”

The Angels had only two hits against Steele, both of them in the fifth inning. The Angels did hit a couple of balls hard – most notably Taylor Ward and Zach Neto – only to have the Cubs rob them with outstanding defensive plays. Also, there was certainly credit to go to Steele, who has been one of baseball’s best pitchers over the past two seasons.

“He made some really good pitches tonight,” Logan O’Hoppe said, “but that’s no excuse for us. We’ve got to be more disciplined than that and and take better swings in better counts.”

O’Hoppe said the Angels have been pressing.

“I’m hoping that we can slow it down and not try to do too much these these next couple of days,” O’Hoppe said. “Speaking for myself, I’m trying to hit the ball a little harder than I can, just getting a little too big at times. We’re going to shorten up when we get back to it tomorrow.”

The Angels (36-51) didn’t do any better on the mound in this one, their fifth straight loss.

Right-hander Griffin Canning struggled with his control and gave up four runs in 4⅓ innings.

It was the first time since April 13 that Canning was unable to get through five innings.

His main problem was falling behind in the count. Canning threw a first-pitch ball to 14 of the 21 batters he faced.

In the first inning, Canning had a 2-and-2 count on Seiya Suzuki when he threw him a fastball over the middle of the plate. Suzuki hit it over the center field fence for a two-run homer.

Canning issued a leadoff walk in the third to Michael Busch, who came around to score when Ian Happ singled on a 3-and-1 pitch. Canning gave up a double to Busch on a 1-and-0 pitch in the fifth, and Busch scored on a hit against reliever Hunter Strickland.

“Falling behind never usually works out in your favor,” Canning said. “I felt pretty good early. Felt like I was attacking and then maybe shied away from the zone a little bit once once Suzuki hit that homer.”

Washington also pointed out that all five of the runs the Angels allowed came after there were two outs.

“I just wish (Canning) would concentrate a little more on putting the inning away,” Washington said. “He gets to two outs in an inning pretty quick. And then you have trouble finishing that inning off. So we just got to find out what it’s going to take for him to do that.”

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