3 Angels failures leading to a disastrous series loss against the Astros

3) The LA Angels superstars underperformed in the biggest series of the season

This series against the Astros was an opportunity for the Angels to show that they're a team that we could see contending for a playoff spot. The Astros aren't quite as formidible as they once were but are still the Astros. In order to get into the playoffs these are the kinds of series you at least have to manage a split in, and they came up short.

It's unfair to place 100% of the blame on Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, but both of them underwhelmed.

Mike Trout had his worst series of the season as he recorded just one hit in 15 at-bats. Trout did draw three walks and drive in a run, but he struggled mightily with men on base and in scoring position, and looked overmatched all weekend.

Shohei Ohtani wasn't nearly as bad as Trout, but he wasn't quite Ohtani either. He had a pretty brutal start on the mound giving up two home runs and five runs overall in six innings of work. He was outpitched for the second time this season by Framber Valdez.

A four-hit game saved his average, but those hits came in a game they still wound up losing. In the other three games, Ohtani had two hits in 13 at-bats. Granted, one of those hits plated the winning run, but Ohtani still had a plethora of opportunities in the first two games and fell short.

Trout should shoulder a large majority of the blame with his struggles throughout the entire series, but Ohtani wasn't exactly great either, especially in the first two games.

The Angels have more depth around Trout and Ohtani than they've had in years but don't get it twisted, these two have to be superstars for this team to have any shot. Trout especially, has not been that. We saw that this weekend.