Looking to continue their recent surge, the Los Angeles Angels were shut out 2-0 by a struggling Baltimore Orioles squad on Friday night at Camden Yards. The Angels are now 33-35 and 18-19 on the road. 

While they managed to outpace Baltimore’s six hits with eight of their own, Los Angeles finished 0-8 with runners in scoring position. They left seven runners on base, allowing Charlie Morton to toss five innings of shutout work and match a season-high with ten strikeouts.

Friday also represented the highly anticipated MLB debut of Angels’ number one prospect and slugger Christian Moore, who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake after slashing .350/.424/.575 in 92 plate appearances.

Hitting ninth and starting at second base, the 22-year-old finished 0-3 with a strikeout. 

On the mound, right-hander Jack Kochanowicz lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing a pair of solo home runs to Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano. Despite tossing just 53 pitches, he would not return to action following a lengthy rain delay.

When play resumed, it was Connor Brogdon who took over to finish the fifth. Kochanowicz ended up taking the loss in the contest as he moved to 3-8 on the year, and his ERA dropped slightly to 5.53.

The Los Angeles bullpen did a nice job behind Kochanowicz to keep Baltimore from extending the lead any further. Brodgon, Brock Burke, Hunter Strickland and Hector Neris combined to blank the Orioles through the final 4 2/3 innings of the game, allowing just two hits.

However, the lack of production from the Halo’s lineup cost them as Morton and the Baltimore bullpen worked just their second shutout performance of 2025. The bullpen allowed only three Los Angeles baserunners through the final four innings.

Their best chances of the night came in the first and fourth frames, where the Angels were able to get their first two hitters to reach base safely. A leadoff walk from Zach Neto to start the game followed by a single from Nolan Schanuel got Los Angeles in motion to start the contest, but Morton retaliated by striking out Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Logan O’Hoppe to end the inning.

In the fourth, singles from O’Hoppe and Jo Adell once again gave the Angels life, but a strikeout from LaMonte Wade Jr. and groundouts from Luis Rengifo and Moore helped Morton escape another jam. 

Los Angeles is now 1-3 against Baltimore this season, with two games left to play on Saturday and Sunday to wrap up the season series. Saturday afternoon’s pitching matchup will feature Angels’ left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99 ERA) and Orioles’ right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23 ERA). 

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. PT.