ANAHEIM — Victor Mederos saw first-hand what Jack Kochanowicz experienced for much of the season.
No matter how good your stuff, there is little margin for error in the big leagues.
Mederos gave up six runs, all of them on a pair of misplaced pitches that wound up over the fence, in the Angels’ 12-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.
Adding to an ugly night on both sides of the ball, first baseman Nolan Schanuel left the game with left wrist soreness in the sixth inning.
It was Mederos’ third turn in the rotation spot vacated when Kochanowicz was sent to Triple-A with a 6.19 ERA. Mederos now has a 7.41 ERA.
The Angels expressed optimism in Mederos because of the way his stuff looked since he adjusted to a change in his delivery this season. He’s had stretches within each of his starts in which he looked good — as Kochanowicz did.
On Saturday night, he gave up just one hit in the first run through the Cubs order, striking out four of the nine hitters.
With two outs in the third, Cubs leadoff hitter Michael Busch doubled in his second look at Mederos. Kyle Tucker then got a sinker over the middle of the plate and he hammered it over the right field fence, for a two-run homer.
In the fourth, Mederos lost his control, walking two hitters and hitting another to load the bases. Still, he was a pitch away from escaping, with two outs, when his 1-and-2 sinker to Reese McGuire drifted back over the middle of the plate. McGuire hit a grand slam, getting the ball to just beyond the reach of leaping center fielder Bryce Teodosio.
Mederos recorded one more out to finish the inning, and then he was done for the night.
The Angels (61-68), who dropped to seven games under .500 for the first time since May 16, are likely to keep giving the ball to Mederos as they try to assess his value for the future. Kochanowicz started 19 games before going down for the first time.
After Mederos was done, Carson Fulmer took the mound for mop-up duty. He gave up five more runs, including Tucker’s second homer of the night, and recorded only four outs before he left with an injury. There was no immediate word on what his injury was.
Right-hander Luis Garcia got two outs to finish the seventh and then infielder Oswald Peraza handled the final two innings. He did not give up a run.
Even if the Angels had pitched better, it might not have mattered because the hitters were also suffering through another bad night.
The Angels have scored 10 runs in the last five games.
Cubs right-hander Cade Horton efficiently dominated the Angels over his six innings, allowing just three hits.
Horton didn’t even throw a ball until his 22nd pitch of the night, which was against the 10th hitter that he faced, ending the third inning.
The only time the Angels got a runner into scoring position against Horton was with one out in the fifth, after Jo Adell and Luis Rengifo had back-to-back singles. Logan O’Hoppe struck out and Bryce Teodosio hit a flyout.
Adell finally put the Angels on the board with his 29th homer of the season, in the seventh.
More to come on this story.