KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A game that started out like it would be a stress-free victory ended up as an agonizing loss.
After taking a six-run lead in the second inning, the Angels blew a three-run lead in the ninth and then a one-run lead in the 10th, eventually losing to the Kansas City Royals, 11-9, on a rainy Sunday.
Drew Pomeranz gave up a two-run homer to Jac Caglianone in the ninth and then Joey Lucchesi gave up a three-run homer to Lane Thomas with two outs in the 10th. It sent the Angels to a crushing loss on a day that they played amid a steady rain and with an 89-minute delay in the seventh inning.
“It’s all on me,” Pomeranz said. “These guys are out there grinding through this game. It’s a long day, and we got the lead. I don’t even remember the last time I gave up a homer or maybe even an extra-base hit to a lefty. It’s my job to just put that guy away. It’s all on me.”
Pomeranz had not allowed an extra-base hit to a lefty since last year, and he hadn’t given up a home run since Sept. 5, 2019, to Kyle Schwarber.
Caglianone is one of the top prospects in the game, but Pomeranz felt he had a good idea of what to do with him.
“I know he’s geared up for a fastball and I’m trying to keep it away from him and not miss there,” Pomeranz said. “I missed exactly where I didn’t want to miss. It sucks.”
Pomeranz threw a fastball over the inner half, and Caglianone hit it just inside the right field pole.
In the 10th, Lucchesi recorded the first two outs while still protecting the lead. He was trying to throw a sinker, down and away, to Thomas, but the ball was thigh-high and he drilled it over the left field fence.
“I missed my spot there, and he didn’t miss,” Lucchesi said. “It’s pretty tough.”
The Angels (12-17) were swept in Kansas City. They have lost seven of their past eight games, none of them as troubling as this one.
The Angels have now lost three games this month in which they had a lead going to the ninth inning. The pitcher who was responsible for two of those – Jordan Romano – was designated for assignment earlier in the day as part of a bullpen shakeup.
They still have plenty of questions about the bullpen.
“We’re going through it a little bit,” left-hander Brent Suter said. “We’re all locking arm in arm and taking the ball and being warriors about it. But just getting some tough breaks, and they’re doing a good job on the other end, putting some ABs together against us.
“We just gotta strap it up and get ready for tomorrow, because we got a good White Sox team looking at us the next couple days here. So we just gotta regroup and stay positive. We gotta make adjustments too. It’s a game of adjustments.”
In this game, the bullpen inherited a 6-3 lead when starter Reid Detmers was chased out of the game with no outs in the sixth. Right-handers Sam Bachman and Ryan Zeferjahn and Suter had gotten the game almost to the finish line before Pomeranz let it get away.
The bullpen spoiled a day when the Angels’ cold offense finally woke up.
The Angels totaled 16 hits. Zach Neto and Josh Lowe each had three, and Jorge Soler, Yoán Moncada and Adam Frazier contributed two apiece. Every starter had a hit.
“They’ve been swinging the bats good and nothing to show for it,” Manager Kurt Suzuki said. “It was nice to see them get on the board and get some hits rolling and putting some guys on base. The offense was great today.”
Neto led off the game with a hit. Mike Trout then followed with a two-run homer that barely cleared the left field fence, putting the Angels ahead 2-0 just three pitches into the game.
It was Trout’s ninth homer of the season. He also became the Angels’ all-time leader with his 797th extra-base hit.
Lowe, Travis d’Arnaud and Frazier – the bottom three hitters in the order – started the second inning with three straight hits. Neto drove in two runs with a double and Soler knocked in another, extending their lead to 6-0.
Detmers was breezing at that point, retiring all nine Royals hitters in the first three innings, on just 41 pitches. With a six-run lead, it seemed the only issue facing Detmers was whether he’d be able to get through the Royals quickly enough to finish five innings – making the game official – before the rain came.
However, the rain didn’t come hard enough to stop the game, and the Royals got better looks at Detmers the second time. Detmers gave up a run in the fifth, and then he couldn’t get an out in the sixth, when the Royals started their third time through the order.
Witt hit a two-run homer, and then Detmers issued his first walk of the day to Vinnie Pasquantino, ending his day and leaving the bullpen four innings with a three-run lead.
“The last two innings were very difficult,” Detmers said. “I’d say more so the sixth. Not just because I gave up the runs in the sixth, it was just I had no grip. No grip on the ball. No grip on the mound. It was very slick. I just felt like I had to kind of baby everything, which is not a good feeling when you’re out there.”
Detmers was still in position to get the victory before the bullpen let it get away.
“It’s baseball,” Detmers said. “You just gotta have short memory. It’s hard, but that’s just what you gotta do. Have short memory and move on to the next. It’s a long season and we’re still in the first month of the season, so there’s plenty of baseball to be played. We’re just on a little rough stretch right now. Gonna go to Chicago and hopefully play well there and then just keep moving forward.”