MILWAUKEE — What seemed likely, then inevitable, finally became official Tuesday night in Milwaukee: for the 10th consecutive season, the Angels will finish with a losing record.
A 9-2 loss to the National League-leading Milwaukee Brewers clinched the dubious distinction and also extended the Angels’ losing streak to five games.
It’s the longest active streak of sub-.500 finishes in MLB and the longest in the franchise’s six-plus decades.
The Angels (69-82) last had a winning season in 2015, when they finished 85-77 and third in the American League West. Their last postseason appearance was the season before, when they won 98 games and were swept by the Kansas City Royals 3-0 in an AL Division Series. It has been 16 seasons since they reached an ALCS and more than two decades since they last played in the World Series, when they won their only championship in 2002.
The Angels had seven consecutive sub-.500 finishes from 1971-1977.
Right-hander Caden Dana (0-2) found himself in trouble early, issuing a one-out walk to Jackson Chourio and an RBI double to Caleb Durbin in the opening inning. Milwaukee tacked on a run in each of the next two innings before striking the big blow in the fourth on a two-run home run by Christian Yelich that brought Dana’s day to an end after just 3⅔ innings of work.
He was charged with five runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts and has allowed 10 earned runs over his last two starts, covering just 7⅔ innings in those outings.
Milwaukee added an insurance run in the seventh on Andrew Vaughn’s RBI double then broke the game wide open with a three-run eighth, with all four runs coming against left-hander Sammy Peralta.
Offensively, the Angels were stymied by Brewers starter Freddy Peralta (17-6). The All-Star right-hander allowed just a pair of hits and two walks while striking out 10 over six innings for Milwaukee (92-59).
The Angels’ lone bright spots came via solo home runs from rookies Denzer Guzman and Christian Moore while Mike Trout remains one home run shy of 400 for his career after going 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
More to come on this story.
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