LA Angels lose game in 9th once again

For the second straight night, the LA Angels tied the game in the eighth inning, but again failed to deliver a win, bringing their losing streak to five.

The LA Angels spoiled a perfect Southern California day defined in the early evening hours by Shohei Ohtani, the Angels again go home disappointed after a tough 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Ohtani, the Angels’ injured two-way star, flexed his muscle in a big way for a player on the Injured List, first with his bat, as he took his first batting practice swings of the season in his bid to return in May, and then with his brand, as Shohei Ohtani blanket night brought scores of fans in number 17 shirts and jerseys to Angel Stadium.

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For the Angels, Felix Pena allowed three earned runs in five innings on only two hits, as Seattle was ruthlessly efficient, plating three of the four baserunners they had vs Peña.  Pena, who threw strikes, worked counts well, and pitched to contact mostly effectively, save for a Jay Bruce solo shot in the second, and a Daniel Vogelbach two-run homer in the fourth.

But Peña was let off the hook in the eighth, after Ty Buttrey, Dillon Peters, and Hansel Robles each pitched a scoreless frame, Angels leadoff hitter David Fletcher hit his third single of a 3-3 night, being the spark plug at the top of the order the Angels so desperately need.

The next batter, Mike Trout, did Mike Trout things, erasing an uncharacteristically out of sync night at the plate vs Mariners’ starter Marco Gonzalez by taking a fastball deep to center field, tying the game, and again giving the Halos faithful a spark of hope. That hope was dulled slightly by Justin Bour, who hit a high infield pop with Brian Goodwin, pinch running for Albert Pujols, attempting a hit and run.

As Goodwin ran quickly back to first, an alert Ryan Healy noticed Bour did not run the fly out, leading third baseman Ryon  Healyt to alertly let the ball drop, making for an easy, rally-killing double play.

In the 9th, on came Cody Allen, who failed to record an out, giving up back-to-back home runs to start off the inning, to Tim Beckham and Omar Narvaez.

With the M’s now up 5-3, Allen lost the strike zone, a concerning appearance for the Angels’ closer, who ended up throwing 14 pitches, only 6 of which were strikes, two of those leaving the yard. Allen would get bailed out by Noe Ramirez, but the Angels would fail to rally in the 9th, sealing their fate.

This loss marks the second straight night that Angels closer Cody Allen was not effective in crucial situation. On Thursday night Allen gave a game-winning single to Jay Bruce in the 9th inning spoiling an 8-run comeback.  On this night Allen again spoiled a smaller Angel comeback as this theme the Halos only rallied from a late two-run deficit.

Should we be concerned about Cody Allen. I wouldn’t press the panic button yet, but it is something to keep an eye on over his next few outings.

The Angels will try again on Saturday to break their losing streak and hopefully have a pitcher get a quality start for the first time in the last 10 games.  Trevor Cahill, Saturday’s Angels starter was the last one to earn a quality start on Monday, April 8th.