Angels can't sustain their walk-off momentum, strand 11 runners

ANAHEIM -- The Angels were hopeful their unlikely ninth-inning comeback on Monday, keyed by Zach Neto’s walk-off homer, would provide a spark and get the team going after a rough stretch.

Instead, we saw more of the same on Tuesday, as lefty Reid Detmers struggled while allowing eight runs over 5 2/3 innings and the Angels went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in a 14-6 loss to the Athletics at Angel Stadium. The Angels broke their streak of being held to two runs or fewer in seven straight games, but left 11 runners on base while the A’s scored 12 of their 14 runs with two outs.

“It's definitely tough,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “We got down six early. The guys fought back, made it 6-4 to get right there and make it a game. Obviously, they pulled away later. But I was pretty proud of the way they fought back after getting down 6-0.”

Detmers looked dominant early, striking out five of the first six batters he faced through two perfect innings. But it fell apart in the third, as he allowed six runs on seven hits in the inning to put the Angels in a big hole, especially considering they had scored just a combined five runs over their last four games.

Detmers was especially hurt by a two-run double from Colby Thomas with two outs, as he hit it into the right-center-field gap, but it dropped in front of Jo Adell. Mike Trout tried to chase it down, but it was hit closer to Adell, who didn’t get a good jump and deferred to Trout until the ball dropped between the two.

Detmers was clearly frustrated by the inning and noted that several balls simply dropped in, and there wasn’t much he could do about it.

“I left a couple pitches over the plate,” Detmers said. “A lot of soft contact. Just kind of like the story of the year so far for me. They put a lot of balls in play and found some holes.”

Trout got the Angels on the board with a solo homer in the third off lefty Jacob Lopez. It was his 12th of the year and his 43rd career homer against the A's, which tied him with Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez for the most against them since their move to California in 1968. With the hit, he also became the first player to reach 600 runs scored at Angel Stadium.

But the milestone came after the Angels failed to score in the first two innings, despite putting on some traffic against Lopez. They made it a game in the fourth, however, as Trout drew a walk with the bases loaded before Vaughn Grissom brought home two runs with a two-out single.

It brought the Angels within two runs, but that was as close as they would get, as they stranded runners in scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings. Suzuki, though, liked the way his team battled, as eight of the club’s 10 hits came with two strikes.

“We've been really focusing on battling with two strikes,” Suzuki said. “Maybe shorten up a little bit, put the ball in play, and put some good swings on some pitches and not try to do too much.”

The A’s also scored two more times in the sixth on a two-run single from Nick Kurtz off reliever José Fermin, but both runs were charged to Detmers. Detmers exited after walking No. 9 hitter Darell Hernaiz with two outs, which set the stage for the A’s to add the two insurance runs.

“It's frustrating,” said Detmers, who saw his ERA rise from 4.20 to 5.07. “That was a frustrating game, for sure. But it is what it is. Move on, look forward to the next start. There's not a whole lot to it.”

Reliever Ryan Johnson struggled in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing five runs, keyed by a pair of homers that put the game away. Johnson opened the year in the rotation but has struggled since returning from a stint on the injured list and has a 15.12 ERA in 8 1/3 innings.

“It looked like he kind of left the ball up all over the plate a little bit,” Suzuki said. “The mistakes that he threw, they got hit. Just one of those nights where mistakes got hit, and unfortunately, it led to some runs.”