MILWAUKEE — Just when it looked like things were finally breaking in the Angels’ favor, well … they didn’t and now their losing streak has reached a season-high seven games after falling to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2, on Thursday night at American Family Field.
Starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi provided much-needed length and held the National League-leading Brewers to just two runs despite giving up five hits and three walks over 5⅔ innings. After Milwaukee right-hander Quinn Priester struck out nine over four perfect innings, Luis Rengifo’s two-run homer in the fifth gave the Angels their first lead of the series.
The good vibes didn’t last long, though.
The Angels put two runners on with one out in the sixth only to come up empty, then the Brewers cashed in during the bottom of the inning, tying the score at 2-all when Christian Yelich singled and scored on Caleb Durbin’s two-out single off Jose Fermin.
Kikuchi started the inning retiring catcher William Contreras on a grounder to short but followed that with Yelich’s single and a walk to Andrew Vaughn before notching the second out when Isaac Collins popped out to first.
He had thrown 92 pitches to that point but was disappointed that he wasn’t allowed to finish the inning.
“All year I’ve been grinding for the team,” Kikuchi said. “So in that spot, I wanted to be trusted a little bit more and I felt like I wasn’t trusted in that moment.”
The Angels put two more on in the seventh, again with one out, against Brewers lefty Aaron Ashby (4-2) and might have re-taken the lead had center fielder Blake Perkins not chased down and snared Chris Taylor’s first-pitch line drive to the gap in left center.
That missed opportunity came back to haunt the Angels in the bottom of the inning when Milwaukee’s first four batters reached on three doubles and a walk against Luis Garcia (2-2).
“There was a play that wasn’t made behind him and that didn’t help, obviously,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “He hadn’t pitched in a bit and I thought he was throwing the ball good, we just didn’t get the help behind him that he needed.”
Mike Trout led off the eighth with his second single of the day and moved to third when Jo Adell reached on an error by Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn but walked back to the dugout empty-handed once more after Abner Uribe struck out Rengifo and pinch-hitter Yoan Moncada to end the inning.
“We had some chances,” Montgomery said. “That’s how it goes. When things aren’t going our way, those balls find holes and when they’re not, those balls find gloves.”
During their seven-game losing streak, the Angels are 7 for 40 with runners in scoring position, including 1 for 11 on Thursday night.
“When you have runners in scoring position against a bullpen like (the Brewers), you have to capitalize when you get the chance,” Montgomery said.
Trouts hits were his first since last Saturday, when he reached on an eighth-inning single in Seattle. Arriving in Milwaukee with 399 career home runs, Trout went 0 for 7 with a walk and five strikeouts in the first two games of the series then struck out and grounded out his first two times up Thursday.
The Angels (69-84) were swept for the 10th time this season and they were swept in Milwaukee for the first time since May 9-11, 1997 when both teams played in the American League.
With the victory, the Brewers (94-59) have won five of their last six games overall and combined with the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Cincinnati Reds, have a magic number of four to clinch the NL Central division title for a third consecutive year.