ANAHEIM, Calif. — In a matter of six pitches, the wheels fell off for the Angels.
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz was tasked with facing the top of the Blue Jays’ lineup in the eighth inning in a tie game, and after retiring the leadoff hitter and getting the next batter to two strikes, things went south fast.
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Pomeranz proceeded to give up three runs over the next six pitches and earned the loss in the Angels’ 4-2 loss against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
He had second baseman Ernie Clement down in the count, but Clement took Pomeranz’s 2-2 knuckle curve that was well below the strike zone and hit a double to left field. With first base open, the Angels opted to intentionally walk the ever-dangerous Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to avoid his bat and to create a chance for a double play.
Pinch hitter Lenyn Sosa then sharply lined a 1-1 fastball that didn’t get as high as Pomeranz wanted off the bottom of the wall in right field to score both runners. Two pitches later, designated hitter Eloy Jiménez grounded a ball through the right side to score the third run of the inning.
“We like (Pomeranz) against their best guys,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “And he really executed the pitch. Clement did a good job hitting a ball for a double. You walk Vlad, and Sosa hit that ball to the gap it was a good piece of hitting. Jiménez rolled on right through the right side. I felt like (Pomeranz) threw the ball good. It’s just one of those nights.”
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The Angels tried a late rally of their own in the ninth as Blue Jays closer, right-hander Jeff Hoffman, was also tasked with facing the top of the order.
Center fielder Mike Trout delivered a one-out single to put the wheels in motion, and Hoffman kept them spinning with his own mistakes.
Hoffman proceeded to hit right fielder Jo Adell and designated hitter Jorge Soler in consecutive plate appearances to load the bases. He then allowed an RBI single to pinch-hitter Yoán Moncada to make it a two-run game.
Manager John Schneider saw enough and went to the bullpen to bring in right-hander Louis Varland, who got first baseman Nolan Schanuel to ground out into a double play to end it.
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It was too little, too late for the Angels’ bats, as they didn’t get a runner into scoring position until the fifth inning and wouldn’t have another until the ninth. After tearing the cover off the ball in their recent road trip, the Angels have now scored just six runs in their last four games.
“It looked like we were just out in front a lot,” Suzuki said. “We really minimized threats that would move the ball forward. Just couldn’t find any holes tonight. (Patrick Corbin) kept us off balance. I thought he mixed in some offspeed pretty well.”
The lineup wasted what was another solid start from right-hander Jack Kochanowicz.
Kochanowicz’s quest for a bounce-back season added another chapter Tuesday night when he pitched 5 ⅔ innings while only giving up one earned run on five hits and two walks, lowering his ERA on the season to 3.10.
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“I thought Jack was good,” Suzuki said. “He was throwing strikes, keeping them on the ground. Really making some good pitches and kept us in the game the whole time.”
What made this an interesting start for Kochanowicz is that, despite the suppressed offense, he really didn’t dominate.
Kochanowicz only struck out one hitter and only got swing and misses on 14% of his pitches that induced swings, where his season average before Tuesday was 25.3%.
More notably, his offspeed pitches weren’t as effective. Before Tuesday, his whiff rate on his slider was 42.9% and 38% on his changeup. In Tuesday’s outing, those numbers were only 20% for both.
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“I wouldn’t say my stuff felt the best today,” Kochanowicz said. “But just some deep breaths at the right times got me through some innings.”
The Angels have now lost four straight games and look to avoid getting swept in Wednesday’s matinee affair with José Soriano on the mound.