ANAHEIM — A month ago, before the story of the Angels’ struggles was their anemic offense, the main problem was their bullpen.
On Wednesday night, they combined the two in a gut-wrenching, 6-5, 10-inning loss to the A’s.
The Angels scored five runs in the first two innings, with all the runs coming on three homers, and then they did nothing the rest of the game, including wasting leadoff doubles in the third and fourth.
They still had a two-run lead in the seventh, but Ryan Zeferjahn and Sam Bachman combined to give one back.
Kirby Yates then gave up a game-tying homer to Jeff McNeil in the ninth. Yates, who missed the first month of the season with a knee injury, had only pitched in four games since coming back, and none of them with a lead.
When the Angels signed Yates, he was considered the most likely reliever to at least start the season as the closer. Once he finally got the chance, it took him just seven pitches to give it up. McNeil golfed a 3-and-2 sweeper just over the short fence down the right field line.
In the 10th, the A’s got their automatic runner home on a Tyler Soderstrom single against Chase Silseth. The runner was going to hold at third, but the ball got between left fielder Josh Lowe and center fielder Mike Trout. Lowe was charged with an error.
Lowe then led off the bottom of the inning, and he struck out trying to bunt the automatic runner to third.
Zach Neto grounded out. After Trout was intentionally walked and Nolan Schanuel walked to load the bases, Jorge Soler grounded out. It sent the Angels (17-33) to their 23rd loss in the last 29 games.
Before all of the that, the story of the game was the turnaround for starter Jack Kochanowicz. He gave up three runs in the first two innings, but then settled down once the Angels got him a lead. He retired all 12 hitters he faced over the next four innings.
His control was the primary problem at the start. He walked three batters – plus one intentionally – and he hit one. In between, he gave up three hits.
Once he had the lead, though, Kochanowicz mowed down the A’s on 46 pitches over the next four innings. He threw 72% strikes, after throwing just 54% strikes in the first two innings.
In the final four innings Kochanowicz also recorded six of his seven strikeouts, which equaled his season high. He induced 13 whiffs, which was just one shy of his career-high.
Kochanowicz got a lead because the Angels found their power, hitting three homers in the first two innings.
Soler hit a two-run homer, his ninth of the season, in the first inning, tying the score. After the A’s went back up by a run in the second, Jo Adell blasted his seventh homer of the season to tie it again.
The two struggling hitters at the bottom of the order got the Angels the lead.
Logan O’Hoppe drew a walk, and then Lowe launched his fifth homer of the season. It was his first homer since April 28.
The Angels could have not had such a sweat in the final innings if they cashed in leadoff doubles in the third and fourth innings. They stranded Schanuel in the third, and Oswald Peraza got picked off third in the fourth inning.
More to come on this story.