After scoring 62 runs over an eight-game stretch, the Los Angeles Angels have suddenly hit a wall offensively.
The Angels bring a three-game losing streak into Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Anaheim, Calif. Los Angeles has four runs on 14 hits since its last victory.
Even more concerning is the fact Los Angeles has struck out 39 times in 27 innings. And 18 of those strikeouts were in a 5-2 loss Monday in the series opener against the Blue Jays.
“You could say it’s just baseball,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “You could say we got really cold. I really think it’s the pitching that we faced.”
Toronto starter Dylan Cease had 12 strikeouts in five innings, moving into the major league strikeout lead with 44 in the process.
“I thought his stuff was pretty darn electric,” Suzuki said. “I thought the guys battled with him, tried to get something together, but that’s the way that sometimes it goes, you know?”
Things don’t figure to get any easier on Tuesday night.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-0, 4.66 ERA) gets the start for the Blue Jays. He will be opposed by right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (2-0, 3.47).
Corbin has been an Angel-killer over the years, compiling a 4-0 record and 3.52 ERA in seven career starts against Los Angeles, including 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts last season. He is 2-0 with a 4.80 ERA in three career starts at Anaheim Stadium and has 39 strikeouts in 38 2/3 career innings against the Angels.
Kochanowicz is 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA in two career starts against Toronto.
Toronto will be looking to match a season-high three-game winning streak after having to bus to Anaheim on Sunday night following a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
The Blue Jays’ plane for the flight to Orange County was sidelined with mechanical issues. Instead of waiting around for a replacement aircraft to make the long flight from Vancouver, the team voted to take a bus for the six-hour drive west while Cease caught a commercial flight to southern California.
“I probably got an extra couple extra hours sleep compared to the guys,” Cease said. “Maybe not having to sit in an uncomfortable position for a long time (helped). A six-hour bus ride would have been like the minor leagues. It would have been fine, but I think flying was definitely a little better.”
The long bus ride through the desert didn’t seem to bother Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Guerrero belted a 430-foot, two-run homer to dead center. He had three hits to lead the Blue Jays’ attack, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
“This is like my second house,” said Guerrero, whose father, Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, starred for the Angels from 2004-09. “I grew up here. I grew up watching my dad play here. … When I got here this morning, it brings me back memories.”
The home run was just the second of the season for the younger Guerrero, who leads the American League with a .354 batting average.
“I just tried to put on a good swing,” he said. “I’ve been hitting the ball hard, but to the ground. I just take it one day at a time and listen to my coaches.”
–Field Level Media
