LOS ANGELES -- It was an all too familiar script for the Angels in their first game of the Freeway Series against the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

The offense struggled yet again in a 2-0 loss at Dodger Stadium, which was the Angels’ 21st defeat over their last 26 games. They’ve also dropped 17 of their last 19 and have scored one run or fewer in eight of those contests.

• Box score

The Angels were held to just three hits, but had a chance late with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, only to see Jared Walsh and Max Stassi strike out against closer Craig Kimbrel to seal another frustrating loss.

"Any loss is painful and if you walk into that room I'm sure they'll tell you the same," said Angels interim manager Phil Nevin. "But you feel like one big knock there, or if you win a game late like this, it could turn on us. I love the effort and how we're going about things. You just feel like you’re just one big knock [away]."

The club saw the return of Taylor Ward atop the lineup after missing the last nine games with a strained right hamstring, marking the first time they had Ward, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon in the same lineup since May 20.

But the Angels were held scoreless for the fourth time over their last 11 games, managing just one hit against right-hander Tony Gonsolin through 6 1/3 innings. And to make matters worse, Rendon left the game in the fifth inning after aggravating his right wrist, which kept him on the injured list from May 27 until Friday. Rendon said it’s something he’ll have to continue to monitor.

"Hopefully it goes away but it is what it is," Rendon said. "It might be lingering for a while. We're just going to figure it out, see how it is on a daily basis, try to get treatment every day.”

The only hit the Angels mustered off Gonsolin was a single from Ohtani with one out in the fourth inning. But Ohtani was promptly caught stealing and Rendon flied out to right to end the inning. The only other batters to reach against Gonsolin were Trout, who walked in the first inning, and Ward, who reached on an error by second baseman Gavin Lux in the sixth.

The Angels didn’t get their second hit until Trout reached on a broken-bat single off Kimbrel in the ninth. It was a scary situation, however, as a shard of the broken bat hit home-plate umpire Nate Tomlinson in the face, giving him a cut near his right eye and forcing him to leave the game.

After a lengthy delay with Laz Diaz forced into action as the home-plate umpire, Ohtani laced a double on the first pitch he saw from Kimbrel to give the Angels some late life. Matt Duffy followed with a walk, but Walsh struck out swinging and Stassi went down looking to end any chance at a much-needed late rally. Walsh nearly hit a go-ahead grand slam, only for it to go foul, and was also hurt by a called strike on the second pitch that appeared to be a ball.

“We took some good at-bats off Kimbrel there,” Nevin said. “I thought the ball that Shohei hit, you could feel and sense things [changing] in the dugout. Duffy had a great at-bat, but then Kimbrel took it to another gear there.”

The Angels wasted a solid showing by their pitchers, as they held the Dodgers to three hits. Right-hander Noah Syndergaard lasted just 4 2/3 innings and was hurt by a 40-pitch fourth inning, but limited the damage and showed better velocity than in his recent outings.

Syndergaard was perfect through 3 1/3 innings, but it unraveled for him in the fourth. He loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and an infield single from Trea Turner before walking Justin Turner to bring home the game’s first run. Syndergaard, though, escaped the jam by striking out Cody Bellinger.

“It was definitely the best I’ve felt mechanically, but I let the situation get the best of me,” Syndergaard said. “It spiraled out of control, but I was able to limit the damage and get out of it.”

José Quijada and Andrew Wantz combined for 3 1/3 innings in relief, which Nevin noted will give the Angels a fresh bullpen heading into the series finale on Tuesday. But they’ll need the bats to get going.

“If you come in here and split this series against the Dodgers,” Nevin said. “We’ll come out of here with our heads held high.”