Angels drop eighth consecutive game with loss to Indians, 13-3

The setting for the Angels’ descent into the historical depths of defeat Friday was the same. Only the monikers were different.

On Sept. 2, 1999, at Jacobs Field, the Anaheim Angels succumbed to Cleveland, stretching their losing streak to nine. When the club returned home the next day, Manager Terry Collins submitted his resignation. One month later, General Manager Bill Bavasi surrendered his under reported duress. One month after that, the Angels hired Mike Scioscia, and he has reigned since.

Scioscia never had supervised such steady failure until Friday, at what is now known as Progressive Field, where the Angels suffered their eighth straight setback, 13-3, to the same Indians, and sagged to 49-66 for the season. The club never before had been 17 games under .500 in Scioscia’s 17-season tenure.

The Angels lost, 14-4, here on Thursday. Only twice in their franchise history had they allowed as many runs in consecutive games. Never in their franchise history had they let a team run as freely as the Indians did Friday, when they stole eight bases in eight tries, seven against the Angels’ starting battery of left-hander Tyler Skaggs and catcher Geovany Soto. Cleveland had not stolen eight in a game in 99 years.

Scioscia said Skaggs did not allow Soto any time to throw out runners. Skaggs did not dispute the assertion. “It’s a mixture of a lot of things, all of it my fault,” he said. “This loss is on me today.”

The 25-year-old had yielded a lone stolen base during his three previous starts this season. But, he acknowledged, he was slow to get his pitches to the plate for most of the game. Scioscia said Skaggs would make adjustments before his next start. He would not reveal what kind. Soto, too, said he would.

“I need to make better throws and throw people out, bottom line,” Soto said. “I should have thrown at least a couple of them out, or every one of them. I really feel like I take pride in that. That’s on me.”

Skaggs started Indians leadoff hitter Rajai Davis with two strikes, and then two balls. Davis fouled off two pitches, took a fastball outside, and fouled off three more. The 11th pitch was another errant fastball, and Davis jogged to first.

On Skaggs’ second pitch to Jason Kipnis, Davis sprinted to second. On Skaggs’ third, he took off for third, and grinned at the Indians’ dugout upon landing. He scored when Kipnis singled. Kipnis soon swiped second, for extra measure.

In the second, Brandon Guyer jumped an 0-and-1 curveball from Skaggs, powering it out to right. The Indians tied the score, 3-3, in the fourth, when Jose Ramirez singled, stole second and third, and scored on a subsequent single.

“I put fat pitches down the middle,” Skaggs said. “It’s the big leagues. You can’t do that.”

After Davis’ single in the fifth, Skaggs threw over to first four times around one pitch home, but Davis still took second easily. After another pickoff attempt at second, Kipnis doubled to left, and the Indians had the lead. They scored three more on three singles and two errors. The run parade did not stop against the three Angels relievers who followed Skaggs.

Ramirez told reporters through an interpreter that Skaggs’ delivery was “easy to read,” and in fact, easier from second base. Asked by a reporter whether Skaggs was showing something specific that tipped him off, Davis winked.

“I think we just kind of have that aggressive nature,” Davis said. “It seemed like it kind of affected him on the mound.”

Kole Calhoun began the game by blasting a fastball from Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco out to right-center field, 394 feet from home plate, for a solo shot. Mike Trout soon roped a double, and Albert Pujols rapped a single, scoring Trout. Soto doubled Pujols to third, but Jefry Marte struck out looking and the Angels would score only once more, in the third, on a Calhoun double.

Through 114 games, the Angels had allowed 59 stolen bases, exactly average across Major League Baseball, and thrown out baserunners 37% of the time, tied for the sixth-best in the sport. “It’s frustrating. I felt like we could’ve won today, and it’s on me,” Skaggs said.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

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