Angels News: Poor Pitching Leads to Another Dropped Series for LA
The Houston Astros pulled off an unexpected win against the Los Angeles Angels, thanks to a four-run inning mid-game. Angels' right-hander Griffin Canning was doing well until the fourth, where everything went south.
Canning had thrown seven of the hardest pitches of his career that day, and the only run he had allowed was in the third inning. Yordan Alvarez hit a 96.9 mph fastball above the strike zone that went over the right field fence.
Hunter Renfroe then continued his spectacular offensive hot streak as he connected on his home run in the second inning.
He also brought Anthony Rendon home in the process.
After this, Kyle Tucker hit a one-out single into right, and Corey Julks followed with a roller to the left side that neither third baseman Anthony Rendon nor shortstop Zach Neto was able to stop, resulting in an infield hit. Tucker advanced to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly.
These are the types of small mistakes that have been costing LA all season.
It got really ugly for Canning after this. He had a rough sequence of plays where he tried to throw out Julks but failed ,walked David Hensley and hit Martin Maldonado with a final fastball before getting pulled out of the game.
When Canning spoke to the media after the game, he was honest about how his poor play feels.
As crappy as it feels, I feel like I’m still getting better each outing,” said Canning, who has a 6.38 ERA after four starts. “I’m trying to stay positive and keep going.”
(Via OC Register)
It is clear some improvements need to be made but we should also remember that prior to this year, Canning hadn't played baseball in a very long time. These types of performances were bound to happen as he gets comfortable again.
Team manager Phil Nevin was certainly understanding.
“I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the pitch,” Nevin said. “He got him to chase two big sliders and went with the harder one a little off the plate. … He stuck his bat out and got a hit. That’s baseball.”
(Via OC Register)
We'll catch our Halos back in action on Friday at 4:10 pm PT in a new series against the Cleveland Guardians.
