CLEVELAND — The Angels struck early with home runs and Mike Trout went 3-3 in his second game back from the IL, but the effort wasn’t enough to stop a Cleveland comeback in a 7-5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians Saturday, May 31 at Progressive Field.
Angels’ third baseman Yoan Moncada put the Angels on the board in the top of the third with a solo home run to put the Angels up 1-0.
The solo shot would have been good for two if not for a base running mishap by first baseman Nolan Schanuel the at-bat before, where Schanuel hesitated around second base after an errant relay throw by Cleveland, before ultimately being tagged out at third for the second Angels out of the inning.
David Richard-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel (18) is tagged out at third base by Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) in the third inning at Progressive Field.
Angels’ left fielder Taylor Ward continued his hot streak with a solo home run of his own, his team-leading 16th of the season, in the third inning to improve the Los Angeles lead to 2-0.
Ward has excelled at the plate as of late, batting .314 with 10 RBIs and nine runs scored in his last 10 games entering into Saturday’s game.
The Angels offense continued to churn out home runs in the top of the fourth with a 410 foot two-run home run to right-center field by Angels’ center fielder Jo Adell to put the Halos up 4-0, their largest lead of the game.
Angels’ starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth after Cleveland right fielder Nolan Jones struck a ball to right field past the glove of a diving Jorge Soler, scoring Gabriel Arias from first base. Jones went on to score himself after the relay throw to third base got away from Moncada, cutting the Los Angeles lead in half 4-2.
Hendricks came into Saturday’s game chasing a milestone, sitting at 99 wins in his career. He put on a strong show early on, striking out four through the first two innings.
Mike Trout continued his strong return from the IL with an RBI double down the left field line to put the Angels up 5-2. Trout’s double was his third hit in the game and his fourth in two games since returning from a knee injury that kept him sidelined for a month.
“He [Trout] looked good today, and he had it off some good pitchers,” Angels manager Ron Washington said in a televised postgame interview. “We’ve just got to hope that he keeps building.”
Trout’s RBI double brings up a unique milestone. He was batting sixth in the lineup, something he had only done once before during a September 2, 2011 game against the Minnesota Twins, a year before Trout’s official rookie season. He appeared once in that game and drew a walk, making the double in Saturday’s game Trout’s first RBI batting from the six spot in his career.
The Guardians fought back against the Angels with three home runs of their own in three innings to tie the game at 5 apiece in the bottom of the seventh.
Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan’s solo home run in that mix chased Hendricks from the game in the bottom of the sixth. Hendricks finished the game having allowed seven hits and four runs, all earned, in 5.2 innings of work while striking out six. Hendricks will have to wait at least one more start before his 100th career win.
Ryan Zeferjahn came out of the bullpen for the Angels in the bottom of the seventh and struggled to put the Guardians away. Cleveland scored three runs in the inning, all with two outs, to take the lead 7-5 after trailing the entire game.
Shortstop Gabriel Arias connected for a two-out, full-count double in the right-center gap to score two runs of those runs and put Cleveland ahead.
“Arias fought for that at-bat and got him. I just felt that he [Zeferjahn] could make that pitch to get us out that inning, but that didn’t happen,” Washington said in a televised postgame interview.
Cleveland’s first lead of the game would be the only lead they’d need as the Angels went down in order through the last two innings and the Guardians claimed the comeback victory 7-5.
The Angels look to take the series when they face off against the Guardians tomorrow, June 1 at 10:40 am PT.