Angels' bats quiet sans Trout in loss to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Angels sorely missed Mike Trout's bat on Thursday afternoon.
With Trout out of the lineup with a right wrist contusion, the Halos mustered only three hits and struck out 13 times in a 4-2 loss to the Rays, sealing a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay right-hander Hunter Wood pitched two scoreless innings to start the game before giving way to left-hander Jalen Beeks, who took a shutout into the seventh inning before giving up a pair of runs that brought the Angels within two.

Justin Upton led off the inning with a single and advanced to third on Albert Pujols' double to left field, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Beeks allowed both runners to score on groundouts by Andrelton Simmons and Jefry Marte, but he avoided further damage by striking out Kaleb Cowart to end the inning.
"We just didn't have the continuity on the offensive side," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Justin and Albert got us going with a single and a double in the seventh, but those guys bent but didn't break. Gave up a couple of runs, but got out of the jam and we weren't able to keep pressing the action."
Upton produced two of the Angels' three hits and walked, but the rest of the Trout-less lineup combined to go 1-for-27 against four Rays pitchers. Scioscia said Trout was not available off the bench, as the Halos want to give his wrist a chance to heal after being injured on an awkward slide into third base on Wednesday.

The loss extended the Angels' losing streak to four games and pushed them two games under .500 at 54-56. The Halos were held to four runs over their past two games after averaging 7.6 runs per game in their previous nine contests.
Left-hander Andrew Heaney took the loss after yielding four runs -- all in an erratic fourth inning -- on six hits over six innings. While Heaney has logged a 2.44 ERA in 10 starts at Angel Stadium this season, he has not felt quite at home on the road, posting a 5.30 ERA over 10 outings. His last road victory came on Sept. 2, 2015, at Oakland.
"They did a good job of staying up the middle," Scioscia said. "They bunched their hits, bunched their offense in one inning and got four runs. I thought Andrew threw the ball really well."
Heaney opened his outing with three scoreless innings and needed only nine pitches to breeze through a 1-2-3 third, but he hit a speed bump in the fourth, allowing the first four batters to reach base. After back-to-back singles by Matt Duffy and Daniel Robertson, Heaney hit Tommy Pham on the right foot to load the bases with no outs. C.J. Cron followed with a two-run single to center field that put Tampa Bay on the board.

Heaney coaxed a groundout from Jake Bauers before hitting Carlos Gómez on the left leg to reload the bases for the Rays. During an at-bat against Willy Adames, Heaney bounced a first-pitch breaking ball that squirted away from catcher Josè Briceño for a wild pitch, allowing Pham to score from third. Adames then plated another run with a sacrifice fly to center field, extending Tampa Bay's lead to 4-0.
Jesús Sucre subsequently singled to keep the inning alive, but Heaney induced a groundout from Kevin Kiermaier to bring the 30-pitch inning to an end.
"I don't think what happened that inning was because of a lack of confidence," Heaney said. "It was a lack of execution. It was making bad pitches at the wrong time. Putting guys on without making them earn it is going to hurt you eventually."
The Angels, meanwhile, put only three runners on base through the first six innings of the game. Upton doubled off Wood with two outs in the first, but Pujols grounded out to leave him stranded. Marte reached on an error to start the fifth, but he was erased from the basepaths after Cowart grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.
"We just didn't get anything going in the batter's box today," Scioscia said.

UP NEXT
The Angels will head to Cleveland and open a three-game series against the Indians on Friday at 4:10 p.m. PT at Progressive Field. Rookie right-hander Jaime Barría (6-7, 3.74 ERA) will start opposite righty Mike Clevinger (7-7, 3.43 ERA) in the series opener. Barria, who will make his first career appearance against Cleveland, earned a win on Saturday after holding the Mariners to two runs over six innings. The Halos have lost their past 10 games at Progressive Field.