ANAHEIM, Calif. — As quickly as it seemed the Angels were in business, things fell apart just as fast on Friday night. 

After loading the bases with no outs to start the game, the Angels failed to score and were unable to regain their footing offensively the rest of the game, despite getting another opportunity with bases loaded and one out late in the game.

The stalled offense led to the Angels’ (53-57) 6-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox (41-69).

White Sox starter Shane Smith started his night by loading the bases with no outs by walking Zach Neto and Taylor Ward and allowing a single to Nolan Schanuel. Neto was back-picked at third base, then Jo Adell struck out and Luis Rengifo grounded out to end the inning without scoring any runs. 

“It’s unacceptable,” Neto said about getting back-picked. “That’s the only thing to say about it… It’s just a boneheaded mistake. It just can’t happen in that moment.”

By the end of the first inning, Smith had thrown 35 pitches, but only 15 of them for strikes as he walked four batters. Five of the six batters he faced made it to a three-ball count. 

“Bases loaded, nobody out, it’s deflating,” Montgomery said. “You can dance around that any way you want. We all felt it… It hurts when it’s in the first, and you have that guy in the ropes like that.”

The Angels failed to reach base again until the fifth inning, when Rengifo drew a walk and then Gustavo Campero mashed a two-run home run into the turf in center field. 

The Angels had another golden opportunity in the seventh inning, when they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning while chasing two runs. Neto hit a sacrifice fly to score Logan O’Hoppe from third to make it a one-run game. 

With two outs and runners on first and third, Schanuel hit a single into right field, which would have scored Travis d’Arnaud from second if Campero hadn’t been thrown out at third base before d’Arnaud could cross home plate. It couldn’t have been much closer either, because d’Arnaud’s foot was hovering over home plate as Campero was being tagged out. 

“We’ve got to make a better decision there,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “Obviously, with the tying run, the ball being hit as hard as it was if anything, you can trade the out for the run, but you’ve got to stop there.”

Offensively, the Angels finished with just four hits and 11 strikeouts. 

Angels starter Tyler Anderson didn’t have his best stuff, but still managed to go six innings while giving up four runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Anderson gave up three solo home runs to Andrew Benintendi,  Lenyn Sosa and Colson Montgomery.

“Just good pitches, not good results, bad pitches, not good results, just not doing a good job in general, just frustrating,” Anderson said. “I’d like to do better for a team that’s playing really well and give them a better chance.”

Anderson has gone 18 starts in a row now without earning a win, with his last win coming on April 18. 

SAM BACHMAN OPTIONED

With the additions of Andrew Chafin and Luis García to the bullpen, the Angels optioned Sam Bachman to Triple-A Salt Lake. 

Bachman had a 5.02 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched that spanned across 18 appearances. Despite the inflated ERA, his 2.75 fielding independent pitching (FIP) suggests that he may have been a bit unlucky. 

“(Bachman’s) got to control left-handers a little bit and the pitch mix,” Montgomery said. “We told him to go down and make sure he works on that sort of stuff. Understanding the importance of coming in as a reliever versus a starter and going to your best stuff immediately. Not that he wasn’t, but I think sometimes that transition takes a little bit of time.”

CHRISTIAN MOORE UPDATE

Angels’ top prospect Christian Moore will have three rehab assignment games played at Single-A Inland Empire by the end of the night Friday. Moore is scheduled to play his first complete game at second base on Friday and will DH a complete game on Saturday, according to Montgomery. 

In the two games he’s already completed, Moore is 3-for-6 at the plate. 

“The first two games, obviously, he didn’t miss a beat offensively, made all the plays on defense, a couple walks, a couple of extra base hits,” Montgomery said. “He’s come out of them comfortably each night.”

Montgomery said there is no specific game count Moore needs to hit to rejoin the Angels.