ANAHEIM — Yoán Moncada has embraced the rallying cry. Bryce Teodosio is on board as well.
With the season fast approaching its final month and the Angels sliding further down the list of wild-card contenders, Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery is making it known that now is the time to grind not coast.
Tying a bow with individual contributions proved difficult, though, and the Angels dropped a 3-2 decision in the opening game of a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.
Moncada delivered his first multi-home run game as a member of the Angels and Teodosio robbed a home run with a catch up against the center field wall to help keep the team in the game.
The contributions fell short after right-hander Kenley Jansen (5-4) gave up a ninth-inning home run to Pete Crow-Armstrong to absorb the loss in his second consecutive appearance. Moncada struck out to end the game.
Jansen also was the losing pitcher Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds after he gave up two runs in the ninth inning and experienced side discomfort.
Crow-Armstrong entered batting just .154 over 19 games this month with no home runs. He last went deep on July 23 and let out some steam in the ninth inning with a shout as he rounded first base.
Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson gave up two runs over five innings but remained without a win since April 18 – a span of 21 starts. Mike Trout walked to extend his on-base streak to 22 games, but the offense had just three hits as the Angels lost for the fifth time in seven games since their second three-game sweep of the Dodgers.
A Logan O’Hoppe bobblehead promotion and a visit from the playoff-contending Cubs filled the ballpark, while bringing a distinct energy to the proceedings, and yet the Angels were unable to deliver in a game there for the taking.
“I think when we go through August and now September, one of the messages for the guys that we’re going to talk about specifically is that this is the time where you spend your whole offseason building for, this is not the time to step off the gas,” Montgomery said. “For me, this is the time when the best players shine.”
Moncada is listening. His first home run of the game came in the fifth inning, and he hit another in the seventh for a 2-2 tie. He now has three home runs over his past two games as he went deep in consecutive contests for just the second time this season.
Teodosio’s defensive gem came in the fourth inning when he raced just to the left side of the 396-foot marker and stuck his glove high above the padding to make a catch and get a salute from the mound by Anderson.
The Angels’ starter combined for five innings and two earned runs or less for the first time since he went six scoreless innings on July 1 against the Athletics.
Right-hander Robert Stephenson made just his third appearance in two seasons for the Angels, and first since May 30, when he induced three fly balls in a perfect seventh inning.
“(The) reality of it is, we still have 30 games, and most are against contending teams,” Montgomery said. “I think the environments we’re going to be in are going to be great. And we talk about playing in those moments before you get there the next year, you’ve already experienced it when it comes time for us.”
While Trout’s on-base streak tied the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jackson Chourio for longest active run in the major leagues, it includes just five extra-base hits and two home runs. It does include 19 walks.
Trout remains on 398 career home runs after last hitting one on Aug. 6.
More to come on this story.
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