'Frustrating' finish spoils big night by Angels' All-Stars

BALTIMORE -- After finding out they were both voted in as starters for the 2022 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium on July 19, Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani each went 3-for-5 with a homer against the Orioles on Friday night.

But it wasn’t enough, as closer Raisel Iglesias gave up three runs in the ninth inning that brought the Angels to a walk-off 5-4 loss at Camden Yards. Iglesias, who posted a 1.64 ERA over his previous 11 appearances dating back to June 7, blew his third save of the year despite retiring the first two batters he faced in the ninth.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Trout said. “It’s just one of those nights.”

Iglesias gave up a two-out RBI double to rookie Adley Rutschman before surrendering back-to-back RBI singles to Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini to give the Angels yet another tough loss. It spoiled the strong showings from Trout and Ohtani, as well as starting pitcher Reid Detmers, who threw six scoreless innings with a career-high seven strikeouts on his 23rd birthday. Detmers was called up for the start with right-hander Michael Lorenzen being placed on the injured list with a right shoulder strain.

“I was frustrated to not close the game for the starter. He did a great job,” Iglesias said through interpreter Manny Del Campo. “I just feel frustrated not being able to close the game for the team and help us win.”

The loss came on the 11th anniversary of Trout’s Major League debut, and he also found out before Friday's game that he was named a starter for the Midsummer Classic for the ninth time, giving him 10 career All-Star Game selections.

Trout’s strong offensive showing followed an 0-for-4 in Thursday’s series opener, but he hit two deep drives to the left-field warning track in that game, both of which would’ve been homers under the ballpark’s former configuration before this season.

Trout said after Thursday’s game that he felt he had found his timing after slumping so far this month, hitting .046 (1-for-22) through the first six games of July. That feeling carried over into Friday, when he singled in his first at-bat to snap an 0-for-8 skid and mashed a three-run homer down the left-field line off right-hander Tyler Wells to give the Angels a 3-0 lead in the third.

“I felt a lot better,” Trout said. “I was just building on what I did last night. That’s what you’ve got to do. Obviously, the one went out and I squared a couple balls. So it’s something I can build off of.”

It was the team-leading 24th homer of the year for Trout, which also ranks as the fourth-highest total in the Majors behind the Yankees' Aaron Judge (30), the Phillies' Kyle Schwarber (27) and the Astros' Yordan Alvarez (26). The three-run shot was just fair down the left-field line and was upheld after review. It came on a 1-0 slider over the middle of the plate and left the bat at 103.6 mph before soaring a projected 376 feet, per Statcast.

Ohtani, who was named an All-Star starter at designated hitter for the second time in his career before the game, gave the Angels an insurance run with a solo shot off reliever Dillon Tate in the ninth inning for his 19th blast of the year. It came on a first-pitch changeup and left the bat at 107.7 mph, traveling 418 feet to dead center. It marked the 19th time that Trout and Ohtani have homered in the same game and the fifth time this season.

But again, it simply wasn’t enough, as Iglesias couldn’t close the door in the ninth. Reliever José Quijada also gave up a run in the seventh and Ryan Tepera surrendered one in the eighth.

“Getting that extra run was huge in the ninth. It gave us a cushion of two runs, and we went to Iggy in the ninth and felt really good,” said acting manager Ray Montgomery. “When you go through six with your starter and you have Quijada, Tepera and Iglesias as your back end, you feel really good about it. They grinded through their innings, but we were still in a good spot at the end. We just couldn’t get it done.”