Friday night’s matchup against the Athletics proved to be a disastrous night for Los Angeles Angels fans.
The A’s took a win from the Halos in the series opener by a score of 10-4. Anaheim now sits just 1.5 games ahead of its division rival.
Angels' right-hander Jose Soriano set the tone for the night to come, dishing out eight earned runs in just 2 ⅓ innings thrown. His ERA now sits at 4.07 on the season.
“I know he’s had his struggles at home. I don’t know the reason for that,” Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said of the 26-year-old’s performance. “Tonight just seems like one that was out of sorts. Even in the ones where he’s had trouble at home, [there’s been] a little better pitch mix. Tonight just seemed like he was a little bit off.”
It wasn’t just a rough outing on the mound that determined the game. The Angels' lineup tallied just three hits against the last-place team in the American League West. Matters are made worse in the context of the Athletics possessing the third-worst team ERA in baseball, at 4.81.
The Angels’ terrible offensive showing on Friday night has become a regular for fans, with the team ranking 29th in the league in hits throughout the season.
They also hold the title of the least disciplined in baseball, with more strikeouts than any other team – by a wide margin – at 1392. That is 81 more K’s than the Colorado Rockies, who sit at just 40 wins with less than a month to go before the season’s end.
Seemingly fighting to keep their place as the worst strikeout team in baseball, the Halos struck out 16 times Friday night. Half of those came against righty Mason Barnett, who was making just his second appearance in the big leagues. After Barnett’s five innings pitched, the Angels failed to record another hit or walk on the night.
The Angels' loss on Friday only exaggerated what fans have been feeling for some time now. Year after year, Angels fans beg for owner Arte Moreno to sell the team once and for all. After preparing to sell the team in 2022, Moreno decided against it to handle “unfinished business”.
Unfortunately for Angels fans, it appears that the unfinished business Moreno aims to complete is ensuring the team’s place at the bottom of the standings year after year. This offseason will be yet another in which fans demand the sale of their once-beloved team.