Angels done in by the start in another blowout loss to Giants

Angels pitching has been a real weak point all season, springing various leaks during the last four weeks. But on Thursday the dam broke, allowing a season-high 10 runs in a third straight blowout loss to the Giants.

Jose Suarez was called up to take this start, but his outing was shorter than the flight from Anaheim to San Francisco. He faced all batters and recorded only four outs, the fifth time an Angels starter has failed to record an out in the third inning this season, tied with the Royals for the most in MLB.

The Giants tagged Suarez for five runs, including a home run by Wilmer Flores and doubles by Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski. Six batters had exit velocities of 98.7 mph or higher against Suarez, against whom major league batters now have a .579 slugging percentage in his 82⅓ career innings.

Matt Andriese followed in relief but though he finished the second inning, he only retired two of his six batters faced. The Giants scored two more in the third inning against Julio Teheran, who was banished to the bullpen this week after three ineffective starts. Through three innings, the Angels trailed 8-1 and those three pitchers threw a total of 103 pitches.

The bright side for Teheran is that, in the unenviable position of having to wear it on the mound and soak up innings for an overtaxed bullpen, he delivered his best and longest outing of the season. That he allowed four runs in five innings tells you everything you need to now about Teheran’s, and the Angels’ season so far.

Angels starters this season rank 28th in the majors in ERA (5.81), 23rd in FIP (5.04), 28th in ERA- (136), and 22nd in FIP- (114). As a team the Angels have allowed six or more runs in eight straight games for the first time in franchise history. During that time they’ve lost seven of eight games, outscored 60-32.

Things are very bad right now for the Angels. After three non-competitive losses to a bad Giants team, the Halos are 8-18, tied with Boston for the third-worst record in MLB.

Notes

• Shaun Anderson, who threw up and in near Mike Trout’s head twice on Tuesday in Anaheim, went up and in again in the seventh inning on Thursday, which drew arguments from both dugouts and warnings issued by home plate umpire Lance Barrett. Trout then responded with a laser off the top of the left field wall for a triple, inches away from a home run.
• Anthony Rendon had three more hits, driving in a pair of runs. He 18-for-37 (.486) on his 10-game hitting streak, including multiple hits in each of the last four contests.
• Max Stassi left the game after taking a foul ball from Alex Dickerson off his right knee in the interminably long second inning. Stassi suffered a knee contusion, and X-rays were negative, the Angels announced.
• Joe Maddon said before the game that there’s a chance Andrelton Simmons, out since July 27 with an ankle sprain, could be activated this weekend in Oakland.

Thursday particulars

Home runs: Anthony Bemboom (1); Wilmer Flores (6), Brandon Crawford (2)

WP — Kevin Gausman (1-1): 5⅓ IP, 9 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts

LP — Jose Suarez (0-1): 1⅓ IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk

Up next

The Angels continue their road trip in Oakland this weekend, with Andrew Heaney starting Friday’s opener (6:40 p.m. PT, Fox Sports West) on five days rest, facing Mike Fiers for the Athletics.