Angels Fail to Muster Any Offense Against Strong Rays Pitching

The Los Angeles Angels came into tonight’s game with a four-game winning streak that included a late-inning comeback win last night against former Angels closer Fernando Rodney. Sending Garrett Richards to the hill against Chris Archer, the Angels looked to make their streak five.

Aug 28, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Los Angeles Angels right fielder

(32) reacts after he stuck out during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately, Richards did not come with his best stuff and struggled with command all night. On the other side, Archer was solid holding the Angels to five hits and just one run over 7 strong innings. The end result was a lackluster night for the Angels that handed them their first loss of the road trip.

Richards lasted on 3 1/3 innings before Scioscia went to the bullpen. While Richards did struggle, the Rays were able to capitalize on some perfectly placed hits and some questionable defense by the Angels. The pitching line looks bad for Richards but things weren’t quite as terrible in reality. And if one wants to search for some good to come out of the game, the Angels bullpen had strong outing courtesy of Jerome Williams, Buddy Boshers and Cory Rasmus who combined to shut out the Rays the rest of the game. Alas, the Rays were that much stronger and the Angels couldn’t muster any offense.

The Angels are 4 an 1 on the road trip so far. They will send out Jason Vargas tomorrow against Jake Odorizzi who will be making just his sixth career start. The business man special starts tomorrow at 11:10 PST.