ANAHEIM — Angels manager Ron Washington talks often about how the team is still “learning how to win.”
It’s not like this.
The Angels made a handful of critical mistakes that proved to be just enough to cost them in a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
The Angels (10-16) have now lost seven of their last eight games.
At the plate, they didn’t even manage a hit against Bailey Ober until the sixth inning, when they were already down by four runs. They had opportunities in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings, but each time could only manage a single run when they needed a big inning.
Mike Trout, who is now 2 for 22 with runners in scoring position this season, struck out on a check swing when he was up with two on in the sixth. He walked on four pitches when he came up in the eighth, with first base open. He grounded out in the ninth to end it, when he was representing the winning run.
Washington suggested that Trout is “putting too much pressure on himself” and “trying to put the team on his back,” but Trout said the results with runners in scoring position are simply a reflection of the way he’s feeling overall.
“My swing’s not feeling so great,” Trout said. “I’m not saying it’s pressing. It’s just consistency at the plate. Ever since Boston (two weeks ago), I’ve been feeling good and then off and on again. As opposed to what I felt in the first two weeks of the season. Just trying to figure some stuff out.”
After Trout’s walk in the eighth, both Taylor Ward and Ehire Adrianza – who replaced Miguel Sanó after his sore knee acted up – were called out looking at third strikes.
The Angels also made defensive mistakes on Friday. There appeared to be a miscommunication between Trout and right fielder Jo Adell in the sixth, allowing a ball to drop and leading to a run.
“I was running full speed out there and I didn’t have time to look to see what he was doing,” Trout said. “I called it at the last minute because I didn’t hear him. I didn’t think he was gonna catch it. When I went there to catch it, he was coming right at me, so it’s kind of like a tweener play.”
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe dropped a pop-up, when he should have given way to first baseman Nolan Schanuel. The Angels erased that mistake by turning their third double play of the game. O’Hoppe also had a passed ball.
Left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who is often the victim of poor defense by his teammates, made his own errant pickoff throw in the third inning, leading to an unearned run.
Sandoval was charged with four runs (three earned) in 5⅔ innings. Although he avoided big innings and kept the Angels in the game, it was not a clean outing.
Sandoval fell behind with a first-pitch ball to 13 of the 24 of the hitters, which contributed to him allowing nine hits.
Sandoval gave up a second-inning homer to Carlos Santana, and then solid two-out RBI singles Byron Buxton in the third and Ryan Jeffers in the fifth. Both came on hanging sliders.
“I gotta do my part and help this team get back to winning,” Sandoval said. “I just really don’t feel like I’m pulling my weight. I gotta be better.”
The sixth-inning run, which extended the Twins’ lead to 4-0, scored after José Miranda’s fly ball into right-center turned into a double. Trout seemed to be calling for the ball, but as the two got closer Trout pulled back, and the ball then hit Adell in the leg and dropped.
Normally reliable left-hander Matt Moore gave up a run in the ninth, just after the Angels had cut the lead to two, after he issued two walks.
One of the bright spots was the play of shortstop Zach Neto, who made some nice defensive plays and also had two doubles among his three hits. Neto has eight hits in his last 13 at-bats, with three doubles and a homer.
“All the work he put in is finally coming together,” Washington said. “You know, it’s coming together when you start using the opposite field.”