Angels offense goes quiet, drop series to Athletics

The Angels were held scoreless on Monday afternoon, as they dropped the series finale to the Oakland Athletics, 3-0. During the four games series, the Angels scored a total of 11 runs.

Although they were held without a run, the Angels actually out-hit the Athletics, finishing with nine hits compared to their six. The opportunities were there, but the Angels were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left a total of 11 runners on base.

The Angels’ biggest opportunity came in the fourth inning when they had runners on second and third with no outs. Justin Upton was thrown out at home while trying to score on an Albert Pujols grounder. After a single by Jason Castro, the Angels had the based loaded with only one out. Andrelton Simmons swung at the first pitch he saw, grounding into an inning-ending double play.

The Angels had their final shot in the ninth. They put two on with two outs for Mike Trout, who represented the game-tying run at the plate. He struck out looking on a (questionable) call, and that ended the game.

Oakland’s offense was held in check for the most part, but yet they just played solid all-around baseball, as it seems they usually do. Ramon Laureano drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the third, and then Matt Chapman brought in a run with a double. An inning later, Mark Canha doubled in a run, making it 3-0 A’s. That would be their only offense for the remainder of the game. Over the final four innings, Oakland had only one hit.

Aside from a few mistakes, Griffin Canning looked really good out there. He only lasted 4 ²⁄₃ innings, but he struck out seven and his stuff looked really good at times. His pitch count got too high, as the A’s made him work during his AB’s. He threw a total of 82 pitches.

Felix Peña relieved Canning and really did a solid job keeping the Angels in the game. In his 2 ¹⁄₃ innings of work he allowed only one hit while striking out four.

Monday particulars

Home runs: Mark Canha (1)

WP: Burch Smith (2-0) 2 IP, 0 ER

LP: Griffin Canning (0-1) 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 ER, 7 SO, 2 BB

SV: Joakim Soria (1) 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 SO

Up next

The Angels will play their first game at home tomorrow as they host the Seattle Mariners. Patrick Sandoval will take the mound for LA. First pitch is 6:40 p.m. PT on Fox Sports West.