ANAHEIM — That season-long balance delivered by a healthy pitching staff and the offense’s penchant for home runs was unable to tip the scale in the Angels’ favor on Friday night.
At the exact midway point of the season, the Angels slipped a game under .500 with a 15-9 loss to the Washington Nationals that was more beer-league softball than interleague duel.
At 40-41 the Angels still have comfortably distanced themselves from a franchise-worst 99-loss season in 2024, but this was not part of the revival. Even an Angels’ offense that powered its way to nine runs on 11 hits was unable to deliver with no outs and a runner in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Angels pitching not only allowed double-digit runs, but the Nationals piled on 19 hits and worked six walks. Right-hander Jose Soriano was tagged for eight runs on nine hits in four innings. He also walked four.
Hunter Strickland allowed four runs in the ninth inning and has now allowed a combined seven runs in his last three outings after not allowing a run in his first 14.
“I think a night like that, you score nine runs, 11 hits, walk six times, usually you win those games,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “We didn’t make any errors. Credit those guys over there. They swung the bats tonight. We didn’t get it done on that side of the ball but the offense really swung the bats well.”
And yet there were moments to savor.
When Soriano opened the game with a 96.6-mph sinker for a strike to CJ Abrams, the staff set a club record by using just five starters through the first half of the schedule for the first time ever.
That stability had allowed the bullpen to fashion a 2.79 ERA since May 19 heading into Friday’s game before five relievers combined to allow seven runs (six earned) over five innings.
Fourth in the major leagues in home runs entering the series, the Angels popped three more, including Jo Adell’s 11th in June alone and Taylor Ward’s 20th on the season that put him on pace for 40 home runs and 110 RBIs for the season.
Adell became the 18th Angels player with at least 11 home runs in a calendar month – the sixth time it happened in June, along with Shohei Ohtani (twice), Albert Pujols, Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson. Ohtani’s 15 home runs in June of 2023 are the most by an Angels player in any month.
Adell’s 18 total home runs are just two shy of his career best set in 130 games last season.
“I’m feeling really good at the plate just with my mindset of being willing to pass the baton and not try to do too much in certain situations,” Adell said. “My favorite at-bat of the night was a single up the middle just because I got down in the count and was able to fight to get back. That’s what we’re preaching around here.”
It was a long day that simply got longer after the team learned Friday afternoon that Manager Ron Washington will not be returning for the remainder of the season because of an undisclosed medical issue.
Washington, who had already been out for the previous week, has preached resiliency since becoming the Angels manager last season and those lessons will be as relevant as ever now.
“I mean, he’s the main reason why everything has been the way it has been around here this year so far,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said before the game, touching on an energy that helped the team to 33 victories in games when they scored four or more runs. Friday was their 12th loss in such occasions.
“It’s nothing that we’re not going to keep replicating,” O’Hoppe added. “We’re going to take the lessons he’s given us and keep applying it, and keep adjusting like he always says, and just keep moving forward.”
The Angels showed that resiliency until they simply ran out of comebacks. They trailed 2-0 in the second inning then led 5-2 after home runs from Adell, Ward and Nolan Schanuel.
The Nationals rallied back to tie it and the Angels led again 7-5 on RBI singles from Luis Rengifo and Mike Trout. The Nationals went back in front 8-7, before the Angels led 9-8 in the fifth by scoring two runs on an error. Then the faucet went dry.
The Nationals managed to score at least one run in each of the final six innings and seven of the nine innings on the night. Seven of the Nationals’ starters had at least two hits and six of the nine were on base at least three times.
Soriano’s struggles came after he delivered a 0.87 ERA with 28 strikeouts over his previous three starts. He went at least 6⅔ innings in all of them. But Friday was similar to his struggles against the Boston Red Sox on June 4 when he allowed seven runs on eight hits over 3⅔ innings.
He is now at 97 innings on the season and quickly approaching the 113 he had last season when the Angels moved him into the starting rotation, then shut him down in August with arm fatigue.
“I’m not worried about it at all,” Soriano said through an interpreter. “I prepared for this in the offseason and thank god I don’t feel any fatigue. I feel great.”
After the long day, Adell turned his thoughts to his manager.
“You know, we’re checking in on him and we’re wishing him the best,” Adell said. “We know he’s not missing a pitch. So yeah, we’re going to get some rest and come back and do this thing tomorrow.”