MILWAUKEE — Another day, another injury and ultimately, another loss for the Angels.
Starting pitcher Jose Soriano was the latest Angels player bitten by the injury bug after suffering a right forearm contusion when he was hit by a 107 mile-per-hour line drive off the bat of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jake Bauers during the second inning of the Angels’ 9-2 loss to the Brewers on Wednesday night at American Family Field.
That inning turned out to be pivotal as Milwaukee went on to score five runs – three coming on Christian Yelich’s 30th home run of the season – after right-hander Connor Brogdon took over for Soriano (10-11) with one out and the bases loaded.
The early lead made life easy for Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff (7-2). Just as Freddy Peralta did in the series opener on Tuesday, the veteran right-hander breezed through the Angels’ lineup, allowing just a run on two hits while striking out nine over five innings.
The only blip on Woodruff’s line came in the fourth, when Taylor Ward hit the first of his two home runs. He added another solo shot in the sixth against reliever Nick Mears to increase his total to 33 for the season, putting him second behind Jo Adell’s team-leading 36.
Other than that, the Angels (69-83) couldn’t muster anything against Milwaukee’s bullpen while their own relief corps didn’t allow another earned run until the eighth, when Blake Perkins drove in a pair with a triple off Jose Urena.
The loss was the Angels’ sixth in a row, their second-longest skid of the season and one short of the season-high set from April 25-May 2 against the Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers.
The Brewers (93-59) reduced their magic number to win the NL Central title to six and maintained their slim lead over the Philadelphia Phillies for the top seed in the National League playoffs.
More to come on this story.
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