Angels score once in two games in Oakland, drop third straight game

The Angels were shutout on Tuesday afternoon by the A’s up in Oakland, dropping their third straight game and suffering their sixth loss in the last eight games.

In getting swept in the brief two-game set in Oakland, the Angels managed to score only one run. Tempers flared in the eighth inning. From Jack Harris at the Los Angeles Times:

Before the start of the bottom of the eighth, Maddon was ejected after a heated argument with home plate umpire Bill Miller. Asked about the confrontation afterward, Maddon claimed that Miller had made a comment to one of his players.

“He needed to hear about it,” said Maddon, who declined to comment on what Miller said and to which player it was directed. “No different than good parenting.”

It was Maddon’s third ejection of the season.

On the pitching side, things went about as expected from this Angels team. Jose Suarez pitched reasonably well, and left trailing 2-0 with two outs in the sixth.

Suarez also left runners on the corners, both of whom were cashed in when Ramon Laureano doubled off reliever Mike Mayers. Those two runs got charged to Suarez, but the Angels bullpen allowed two of their own later.

Angels relievers have a 5.04 ERA in July, compared to 3.72 for the starters.

Up next for the Angels is a four-game series starting Thursday against the Twins, who have managed to be even more disappointing this year than the Angels.

Links

• “I thought he was really good,” Maddon said of Suarez, per Justin delos Santos of MLB.com. “That’s another really good start to build off of.”
• Brandon Marsh slept through a few missed calls before realizing he was getting called up to the majors. Harris at the LA Times has more.
• Marsh this season has lost both his father and his best friend, writes Sam Blum at The Athletic.
• It’s Ohtani Week at Baseball Prospectus, with several articles about the Angels star. Here’s one on the greatest two-way players ever, from Rob Mains.