The
There is one team in the AL West with a losing record against the AL East. That team would be the Angels.
With their 6-5, 10-inning loss to the
It's a handful of games so far, not a trend. But the Angels leave Thursday for a six-game trip against AL East opponents — a three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium, followed by three more at Tampa Bay.
The Angels came close on Wednesday. They got one run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score, on a sacrifice fly by
Trout has nine intentional walks this season, one shy of Detroit's
As the game went into extra innings, the Angels called on closer Huston Street.
He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Kevin Kiermaier, which was enough to secure the Rays' victory.
Four hours before game time, the picture was more upbeat for the Angels. Their starter,
He ripped one open, to see what was inside, and you worried about a pitcher straining his arm.
Then bullpen coach Steve Soliz walked past, and Santiago picked up one of the boxes and threw it at Soliz. You worried about a pitcher throwing out his arm.
The boxes contained T-shirts for "Santiago's Soldiers," a children's charity he founded. The boxes eventually had to make way, so Santiago picked them up, one by one, and stuffed them into the locker vacated by the recently demoted
But, for a while, Santiago was fine, not only in the clubhouse but through the first five innings. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, picked off a runner in the second, and pitched perfect innings from the third through the fifth.
By that time, the Angels led 4-0 through five innings, and Santiago had lowered his earned-run average to 2.01 — the same as the Rays'
Then came, as the cliche would have it, the fateful sixth. Within five batters, Santiago gave up five runs. The shutout bid was gone. The lead was gone. He was gone.
Brandon Guyer walked, Joey Butler homered, and the Rays had pulled within 4-2.
Twitter: @BillShaikin
