Angels rally for late tie before falling to Rockies

ANAHEIM — The Angels had a chance to make up more ground following a recent run of success, but the worst team in baseball sprinted past them at the finish on Monday night.

With six victories in their previous nine games, while returning home to where they last recorded a three-game sweep, the Angels ran out of gas on the mound as the Colorado Rockies rallied for a 9-8 victory in the opener of a three-game series.

The Angels’ offense did what it could, getting a Jose Siri grand slam in the third inning and a game-tying two-run triple from Jorge Soler in the eighth before the Rockies went ahead for good in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from TJ Rumfeld.

The game ended when Siri grounded into a double play with runners on first and second in the ninth. The Angels challenged the play and replays appeared to show that Siri was safe but the call on the field was not overturned.

“Obviously we have our opinions, and they obviously have theirs, and the only thing that matters is their opinion,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “They have video up there. We look with our eyes and like I said, we have our own opinion. But the call is what it is.”

The Rockies arrived as the worst team in baseball at 22-38, although the Angels were just one game better at 23-37, even after a three-game sweep over the Texas Rangers to close the previous homestand and a break-even six-game trip to Detroit and Tampa Bay.

Right-hander Jose Siriano continues to search for the form that made him the March/April American League Pitcher of the Month when he opened the season 5-1 with a 0.84 ERA over seven starts. He has just one win over his last six starts with a 5.13 ERA.

Soriano mostly ditched his four-seam fastball late in the outing and tried to rely on his splitter and knuckle-curve. But he never made it out of the fifth inning, even with a three-run lead. He threw a season-high 108 pitches in order to record 14 outs.

“It’s not much about the pitches, it can be mechanics or something like that,” Siriano said. “I just have to figure it out and try to get better for the next one.”

And yet the Angels still held a three-run lead in the eighth inning when right-hander Jose Fermin was tagged for five runs, including a go-ahead three-run home run from Hunter Goodman. Kyle Karros and Tyler Freeman also drove in runs during the inning.

The meltdown ended Fermin’s run of nine consecutive scoreless outings.

“He left some sliders up, got to two strikes and couldn’t put them away,” said Suzuki, who was dealing with a short bullpen. “Rough night.”

Until then, Siri had been lined up as the Angels’ hero.

One day after robbing his opponent of a grand slam, Siri hit one. Call it a one-man eight-run swing and yet both games ended in defeats for the Angels.

Siri’s manipulation of the scoreboard began Sunday in Florida when he launched half of his body over the left-field wall and robbed the Tampa Bay Rays’ Taylor Walls of a slam in the third inning.

The catch even saved a lunch buffet that was stationed just beyond the wall.

On Monday, Siri feasted on an 86-mph cutter from the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland and sent it toward the team bullpens in left field. He launched a bat flip while halfway up the first base line and implored fans to yell even louder as he got set to round third.

“That was fun, but I would be more happy if we won,” Siri said.

The loss came as shortstop Zach Neto was a late scratch while he continues to feel the effects of a home-plate collision Saturday in Tampa Bay.

In the early going it was all Rockies. Troy Johnston had an RBI single in the first inning for Colorado and Jake McCarthy made it 2-0 in the third with a booming home run to right-center to lead off the third.

Jo Adell gave the Angels their first run with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. One batter later, Oswald Peraza beat out an infield single to load the bases with two outs and Siri followed with his bases-clearing blast.

It was the second grand slam of Siri’s career after also hitting one for the Rays in 2024.

Soriano’s wobbly night continued in the fourth when he loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a hit batter. But he escaped the jam when he struck out Tyler Freeman and Hunter Goodman lined out to right.

The Rockies pulled within 5-3 in the fifth when Sterlin Thompson singled against Chase Silseth, with the run charged to Soriano.

The Angels added a run in the fifth when Vaughn Grissom scored from third base when Peraza stole second base and Rockies catcher Goodman sent his throw into center field.

Colorado pulled off the victory with six runs over the final two innings. It was the fifth time in six games the Rockies have scored at least six runs, but they have gone just 3-3 in the stretch.