Halos 'learning a lot' as rough July rolls on

ATLANTA -- The Angels had some good things happen in their 7-2 loss to the Braves on Saturday at Truist Park, including Shohei Ohtani launching his 20th homer of the year and Jared Walsh showing signs of snapping out of his slump with a three-hit night, but they were ultimately done in by sloppy defense and a lack of execution with runners in scoring position.

It was yet another disheartening loss for the Angels, who fell to 2-14 in July. Interim manager Phil Nevin displayed that frustration in the fifth inning, as he was ejected from the game just after Ohtani connected on a solo homer off Braves starter Kyle Wright.

Nevin was bothered by a non-call on a check swing from Austin Riley in the previous inning. It looked like Riley went around on a 2-2 pitch from Austin Warren, but first-base umpire John Bacon ruled he didn't swing. Riley sent the next pitch from Warren over the left-field fence for a two-run homer that made it a six-run game.

"When things are rough like this, little things get at you,” Nevin said. “The high check swings are ones that are not missed very often and that's the way I saw it. It was followed up by the home run. I know we have to make a pitch there, but Austin was out of that inning, in my opinion. It changes it.”

Nevin believes the missed call altered his club's chances of a potential comeback, as Ohtani's homer would've brought them within three runs if Riley would've been ruled out. He voiced his displeasure to home-plate umpire Alan Porter after the homer before getting thrown out for the third time this season.

“It would’ve been 5-2, but there were some things that created the deficit in the first place,” Nevin said. “There's some plays we didn't make and not knocking the guys in again. Just things we have to clean up to be competitive against teams like that."

As Nevin noted, the defense didn’t help matters, as starter Patrick Sandoval was hurt by a few critical misplays. But Sandoval, who gave up five runs on eight hits over just three innings, credited the Braves for putting the ball in play.

"It was just a grind out there,” Sandoval said. “They were hitting mistakes and good pitches that I executed. I feel like I was ahead in the count a pretty good amount this outing, but they still were putting the ball in play and making it tough."

It started when Ronald Acuña Jr. smacked a hard-hit grounder to third baseman Jonathan Villar to open the bottom of the first. Villar couldn't make the play and Acuña was credited with a double. Dansby Swanson followed with an RBI single to put the Angels in an early hole.

Sandoval nearly escaped the jam without further trouble as he got catcher Travis d'Arnaud to hit a grounder to Villar, but the throw to second was off-line and prevented Michael Stefanic from attempting a throw to first for a potential double play, which allowed a second run to score. Nevin called it a tough play for both sides, but admitted Villar’s throw took Stefanic slightly off the bag.

“He's going to rely on soft contact and for the defense to play well behind him,” Nevin said of Sandoval. “We haven't been good behind him lately."

Villar made a diving stop on a grounder hit by Dansby Swanson in the fourth, but he made a wild throw to first base and was charged with an error that allowed Swanson to reach second. Swanson went on to score on Riley’s home run. Villar's troubles continued in the fifth when he made another error on a grounder. No run scored this time around as Jaime Barria, who threw four scoreless innings of relief, worked around the trouble.

The Angels were fortunate in the seventh after Riley hit a routine pop fly that hit off right fielder Jo Adell’s chest and bounced into Stefanic’s glove for an out. They weren’t so fortunate with runners in scoring position, however, going 1-for-9 in those situations.

“You can't let them off the hook,” Nevin said. “You've got to make [the] plays you're supposed to. And when guys are out there, you gotta get them in. And we're seeing what that's like. Good teams like that capitalize on them and put them away. That's why they're the defending world champs. And that’s why we're learning a lot in these games.”