The Los Angeles Angels were winning games because of its offense in the early going but now the Angels are losing games because of its pitching staff.
The Los Angeles Angels were a fun team to watch at the beginning of the season as the offense was firing on all cylinders and the pitching staff was holding up their end of the bargain, but it is quickly unraveling on the Halos.
The Angels were swept by the Kansas City Royals over the weekend, one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, and have now lost seven of its last eight games. Los Angeles fell to 12-17 and became one of the worst teams in MLB themselves following this stretch of losing.
Los Angeles jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after two innings with the help of center fielder Mike Trout’s ninth home run of the season but watched its lead start to diminish in the fifth inning. By the end of the ninth inning, it was 8-8. The Angels scratched across a run in the 10th, but left-hander Joey Lucchesi surrendered a walk-off three-run homer to Royals outfielder Lane Thomas, a prize for fans who waited through a lengthy 89-minute rain delay.
The Angels will look to stop the bleeding with another series against a bottom-dwelling opponent, the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox are 11-17 heading into play Monday, but this team can swing it on occasion, especially when first baseman Munetaka Murakami is hot.
Los Angeles will send right-hander Jack Kochanowicz to the bump to take on Chicago lefty Anthony Kay in the series opener.
Kochanowicz has done his part so far, going 2-0 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in five starts (29 innings). He has had trouble with command, walking 13.9 percent of batters this season, but he has been able to get himself out of jams. Kochanowicz allowed six runs (five earned) his first time out but hasn’t allowed more than three in any of his other starts. Kochanowicz threw 5.2 innings and allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out one against the Toronto Blue Jays in his last outing.
Kay, 31, spent his last two seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league and reinvented himself as a dominant starter in Japan. He landed a two-year deal with the White Sox, which has gotten off to a solid start if you take away his last outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a start in which he allowed eight runs on eight hits and three walks over 3.2 innings.
The other 17.1 innings of work have been good for Kay, but the Angels are hoping to see the version of Kay that Arizona saw on Wednesday.
First pitch is at 4:40 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.