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Angels pitcher Jack Kochanowicz throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Angels pitcher Jack Kochanowicz throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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ANAHEIM — In hopes of being in a golden state after a long stay in California, the promising stretch has opened more bust than boom for the Angels.
If a sunny disposition was what the Angels were looking for while on familiar turf, the just-completed weekend was instead dreary with clouds, light rain and soggy developments on the field.
With the relaxed travel situation, manager Ron Washington hoped his club would start “grinding.” He was looking forward to “playing the game we know we can play.” The wait continues.
A run of 26 consecutive games in California opened Thursday and following Sunday’s 13-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers, the Angels have won just once in four tries. Overall, they have dropped eight of their last nine and 10 of 12.
Traction will have to come in upcoming matchups against the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles to complete a 10-game homestand.
“We don’t like where we’re at. I think that’s clear,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said after going 0-for-2 with a walk to end a mini four-game hitting streak that included two home runs. “It’s a challenging time. We went through some stuff last year and we’re looking to change the approach from that so it doesn’t prolong this year.”
The Angels failed to build off a 5-2 victory Saturday when they trailed 5-0 after three innings and 8-0 through six of the series finale.
If an 11-0 deficit in the seventh inning wasn’t bad enough, the mood was further darkened three pitches after a Trey Sweeney home run when Detroit’s Tomas Nido bounced a chopper off the area in front of home plate. Angels pitcher Jose Fermin couldn’t reach the ball over his head, was late to cover the bag at first then failed to catch the toss from Nolan Schanuel near the bag. The play was ruled a single.
Angels pitchers gave up 16 hits and three home runs, while their own offense banged out just five hits in a continuation of an early-season theme.
Zach Neto did manage to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games and brought home the Angels’ first run of the day in the seventh with a ground-rule double. Neto and Tim Anderson combined for four of the five hits. Otherwise, progress was hard to detect, unless Taylor Ward ending a 0-for-27 drought with a fourth-inning double counts.
“We don’t want to get caught up in the negativity and everything else that’s on the outside of this room,” O’Hoppe said. “We’re going to keep staying with it, keep putting our work in, but by no means are we OK with what’s going on.”
Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (1-5) managed to last five innings, which was a feat in itself after giving up five runs in the first three innings. He allowed seven hits with two walks to go along with his five runs and gave up a three-run home run in the third inning to Colt Keith.
“I definitely didn’t have my go-to pitch today,” Kochanowicz said about his sinker. “It’s a very good hitting team over there. Just got the bad luck of the draw and didn’t have my No. 1 option.”
In his first outing since he was recalled Saturday, right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks gave up a three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter in the sixth. Fermin gave up the third three-run homer of the day when Sweeney took him deep.
Neto finally got the Angels on the scoreboard on a drive into the right-field corner that initially appeared as if it had a chance to clear the low wall near the foul pole. But like everything else on the day, the drive fell short and bounced into the stands instead.
“You gotta start winning some ballgames and that’s the only way you can take advantage of that,” Washington said of the continued California time ahead. “We’ve been getting good pitching, then we don’t have the offense we need. And then we blow games at the end so we just don’t have everything working.”
In his Angels debut, right-hander Touki Toussaint pitched a perfect eighth inning before giving up two runs in the ninth. It meant all four Angels pitchers gave up multiple runs.
After the homestand ends in a week, the Angels head out for road games against the Padres and Dodgers, while traveling by bus along the scenic coastline. Then they get on their only plane ride in nearly a month when they travel an hour north to face the Athletics in Sacramento.
A homestand on their return has the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees in town.
There remains time in the stretch for the Angels to find some “California Love.” As of now, it will remain “California Dreamin’.”
“Little wins man,’ O’Hoppe said. “This game is too damn hard and the season’s too damn long to at not least try to sit on little wins. That could be as small as a good take or a good pitch for a guy on the mound.
“… As a group try to maximize on the (little) wins and not talk about the problems too much because if we talk about the problems, it’s just going to be prolonged.”
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