CLEVELAND — The third out is the toughest one.
Ryan Zeferjahn got the first two outs of the seventh inning quickly, including retiring perennial MVP candidate José Ramirez.
After that, Zeferjahn couldn’t get another out, and he ended up giving up three runs that sent the Angels to a 7-5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.
“They battled at-bats and put a couple good swings on,” Zeferjahn said. “You know, it didn’t go my way today.”
The Angels had taken a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth on Mike Trout’s double, his third hit of the game.
The Guardians chipped away, with Ramirez and Steven Kwan hitting solo homers against starter Kyle Hendricks in the fifth and sixth innings.
Zeferjahn took the mound in the seventh to protect a 5-4 lead.
With two outs, he hung a sweeper to Carlos Santana, who yanked it inside the right-field pole to tie the game. He then gave up a single to Daniel Schneemann, followed by a walk to Bo Naylor.
No. 8 hitter Gabriel Arias swung at a Zeferjahn fastball at the knees and hammered it into the right-center field gap, driving in two.
Zeferjahn said the pitch to Santana was up too much and the pitch to Arias was down too much. Mostly, he regretted that it took him so many pitches to get through. Schneemann, Naylor and Arias each saw at least six pitches.
“Continuing to get a little better in the zone and not get to 3-2 counts, get so deep, get them out of there earlier,” Zeferjahn said. “The later it got, the more damage they did.”
Since Zeferjahn gave up runs in three straight outings against the best hitters on the Padres and Dodgers earlier this month, he had not allowed a run in his next five outings. Manager Ron Washington has trusted him as his best reliever to handle the most dangerous hitters before closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth.
That’s why Washington summoned him with the middle of the Guardians’ order due.
“I just felt he could make a pitch to get us out that inning,” Washington said. “But it didn’t happen.”
The Angels (26-31) ended up losing a game that they seemed to have comfortably in hand, when they led 4-0 in the fourth and 5-2 in the fifth.
Yoán Moncada – who left the game in the seventh because Washington felt he was favoring the right knee that has been bothering him – and Taylor Ward got the scoring started with back-to-back homers in the third. It was sixth of the season for Moncada and the team-leading 16th for Ward.
Jo Adell hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Adell is 7 for 15 in his last five games.
The lead gave Hendricks a good opportunity to pick up career victory No. 100. Hendricks allowed four runs in 5⅔ innings, with a season-high six strikeouts.
In the fourth, he struck out the first two hitters of the inning before allowing three straight hits and two runs. An inning later, Hendricks gave up a homer to Ramirez, whom the Angels intentionally walked each of his first two trips.
Hendricks gave up a homer to Kwan in the sixth, ending his day and leaving with the Angels up 5-4.
“They just took some good swings,” Hendricks said. “I thought I really only made two bad pitches all day, the Arias single, which he hit good, and then the last pitch to Kwan, the homer. Other than that, a lot of good stuff again. So I just got to stay right there. Keep doing what I’m doing. I feel like better results are going to be coming if I keep doing that.”
Hendricks also gave props to catcher Travis d’Arnaud for the six strikeouts. Washington has paired Hendricks and d’Arnaud for nine of his 11 starts.
“Trav was really good tonight,” Hendricks said. “Just reading where they were at. Their body language. What they were looking for. We pitched in effectively when we needed to, got a few strikeouts there and then went to chase. He was really feeling it today. Really didn’t have many shakes at all. He was just on top of it.”