Struggling significantly to hit in the early innings, the Los Angeles Angels dropped the series finale, 4-2, to the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field. Having dropped two of three and seven of their last eight, the Angels are now 26-32 and 16-17 on the road.

Guardians’ starter Gavin Williams cruised his way through 6 2/3 dominant innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six. Los Angeles did not produce their first hit until there were two outs in the sixth when Zach Neto grounded a single through the right side. Their only baserunners prior to that had come on a pair of walks.

Despite Williams making quick work of the Angels, he would not make it through the seventh after Logan O’Hoppe reached on a ground ball to Guardians’ shortstop Gabriel Arias that went through the stitching of his glove. Allowing the frame to continue, Williams plunked Jo Adell with a breaking ball in his next at-bat, marking the end of his outing.

Taking advantage of their second chance, Luis Rengifo and Mike Trout delivered back-to-back RBI singles off Guardians’ reliever Hunter Gaddis to get the Angels on the board and make it 4-2. Trout did not get the start on Sunday after starting in the first two games of the series, but came off the bench to provide the pinch-hit knock.

Playing in his first series since April 30, the 33-year-old had been on the injured list recovering from a left knee contusion. He finished the series with five hits and two runs batted in, including a 3-4 showing in Saturday’s 7-5 loss. 

While Los Angeles finally got on the board, Jack Kochanowicz’s four runs allowed earlier in the contest kept them in the rearview mirror. The right-hander made his 12th start of the year, lasting just 3 2/3 innings and surrendering four runs.

He first allowed Cleveland to get on the board in the third after a leadoff walk to Gabriel Arias and a single from Nolan Jones put runners on the corners with nobody out. Steven Kwan drove home Arias with a sacrifice fly to open the scoring.

An inning later, Jose Ramirez blasted his 11th home run of the season to make it 2-0, making it the second consecutive game with a blast for the Cleveland third baseman. Following a pair of strikeouts, a walk and a hit by pitch allowed Jones to drill a two-run single to center and make it 4-0.

David Richard-Imagn Images

Kochanowicz fell to 3-7, allowing five or more hits for the fourth consecutive outing. It was the shortest start of the season for the 24-year-old, who now has a 5.34 ERA.

A leadoff walk in the eighth to Zach Neto ended up being the only baserunner the Angels could manufacture through the final two frames as Gaddis, Matt Festa and Emmanuel Clase worked effectively to close the door and secure the rubber match for the Guardians. Although they finished 2-3 with runners in scoring position, it was just the third time all season that Los Angeles compiled three or fewer hits total.

Now 1-5 through the first six of a nine-game road trip, the Angels will head to Boston for a three-game set against the Red Sox beginning on Monday afternoon. Left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-2, 3.39 ERA) will take the mound for Los Angeles against Boston right-hander Richard Fitts (0-2, 2.70 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. PT.