Halo Highlights: Barry Enright Steamrolled. Angels Fall 9-5

The power of the ginger was nowhere in sight tonight. The Kansas City Royals throttled starting pitcher Barry Enright, and the bullpen didn’t add much in the way of relief tonight as the Angels dropped the rubber match and watched their record on the season drop to 15-25.

May 15, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels right fielder Josh Hamilton (32) heads back to the dugout after popping out in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Royals struck first in the second inning when Slavador Perez hit a ground-rule double that brought home Mike Moustakas. But it was the third inning that was the real “kick to the feels.”

10 hitters came to the plate in the top of the third, and before Enright had recorded an out, the bases were loaded, and he was out of the game. Mark Lowe came on in relief, and pitched like Mark Lowe. Lowe promptly gave up an RBI single to Billy Butler that brought home two runs. Butler closed this series out with nine RBI’s against the Angels. Lorenzo Cain then hit a bases loaded double to push the score to 6-0. With two outs, A passed ball allowed Cain to score and that was followed up by a Jarrod Dyson triple to drive home Elliot Johnson. After the dust settled, the score was 8-0, Barry Enright had been charged with four runs and Mark Lowe had charged with the other four. A banner inning for Angels pitching.

This woke the Angels offense up, as they spent the rest of the game trying desperately to claw their way back into the contest.

It started with an Albert Pujols RBI single in the third inning. Chris Iannetta added an RBI single in the fourth. The Angels plated two runs in the sixth on an Alberto Callaspo sacrifice fly and a bases loaded walk to Mike Trout. The Royals tacked on another when Salvador Perez single home Cain in the seventh. But in the eighth inning, Mike Trout hit his second home run in as many days pulling the Angels back within four.

A few bright spots on the pitching side at least. Robert Coello has continued to be unhittable. He now has seven strike outs in his three big league innings, and has yet to walk a batter out of the bullpen. Michael Kohn threw a clean inning with a strikeout, and he has continued to make a case to be a permanent fixture in the Angels pen. And lefty Michael Roth threw two good innings, striking out two and giving up only one hit. That’s a gold-star day for the future LOOGY.

It was a staff day for the Angels staff thanks to the ineffectiveness of Enright, so it’ll be up to Jerome Williams to chew up some innings tomorrow when he toes the rubber in the opening game of the Angels four-game series with the Chicago White Sox. Jose Quintana will be the starter for the Pale Hose. Light up the fail-o. Time for a stiff drink. BARKEEP!