CHICAGO — The Angels did nothing to change the narrative surrounding their struggling franchise on Opening Day.
Owners of the longest current playoff drought in the majors, the Angels lost 8-1 to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, falling for the 11th time in their last 12 openers.
The Angels, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, managed just five hits, only two after the second inning. They didn’t score until Logan O’Hoppe homered in the ninth.
Starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up three runs in six innings in his Angels debut, and then right-hander Ryan Johnson pitched a perfect seventh. Johnson became just the 24th player in major league history to go from the draft to the majors without playing a minor league game. Johnson didn’t pitch in the minors last summer because of his workload in college.
His feel-good story didn’t last long, though. He gave up five runs in the bottom of the eighth, on two homers.
When he couldn’t get the third out of the inning, infielder Nicky López took the mound.
It was an embarrassing start to the season in the same place where the Angels suffered an embarrassing sweep last September. The Angels lost all three against a White Sox team that set a major league record with 121 losses.
More to come on this story.