The hope was that the Angels could use Tuesday’s ninth-inning rally to muster up something worth talking about at the plate.
On Tuesday, Yoán Moncada homered. Taylor Ward singled. Luis Rengifo brought home a run with a line drive up the middle. Despite falling a run short, stringing a few hits together showed that the Angels could build off each other to produce runs.
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However, instead of breaking through as an offense, the Angels were shut out by the Yankees 1-0 on Wednesday night, securing a sweep and turning the Angels’ eight-game win streak of weeks past into more of a blip on the radar than a sign of life.
Entering the game, the Angels (25-30) walked the least and struck out the second-most in MLB. Wednesday was mostly more of the same. The Angels drew two walks, one of them with two out in the ninth, but were able to snap their three-game streak of double-digit strikeouts — punching out just seven times.
Angels manager Ron Washington managed the game as if his team needed the victory. He tried anything to salvage a homestand in which the Halos ultimately dropped five of six and scored just three runs. When Aaron Judge walked to the plate in the first and second innings, Washington greeted the Yankees slugger — owner of the top batting average (.391) in MLB — with a free base.
The strategy that made Judge the first Yankees player to intentionally walk twice in the first two innings of a game since Gene Woodling on Aug. 30, 1953, worked once, but led to the only run of the game in its other appearance.
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After Judge was walked with a man on in the first, Cody Bellinger walked — one of Angels starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi’s five walks — to load the bases. The next batter, Anthony Volpe, hit a sacrifice fly to center field and brought home a run.
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Kikuchi (93 pitches, 51 for strikes) struggled with command once again, with his league-high walk rate rearing its ugly head. The Japanese southpaw loaded the bases in each of the first two innings, but settled down to make it through five innings, giving up five hits and striking out four. Despite Kikuchi battling through the fifth — and the Angels bullpen tossing four scoreless innings — with how the Angels have been at the plate over their last five games, one run was all the Yankees needed Wednesday.
In perhaps the biggest cheer of the night at the Big A, right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn struck Judge out looking with a 99.1-mph fastball in the seventh inning.
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Now, the offense will look to recover away from Anaheim and see if it can rediscover what made it click against the Dodgers and Athletics.
Cleveland and Boston await the Angels next as they’ll first face the Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday to begin their six-game trip.
Angels reshuffle roster
The Angels made a flurry of roster moves before Wednesday’s game, designating veteran infielder Tim Anderson and catcher Chuckie Robinson for assignment, while optioning left-hander Jake Eder to triple-A Salt Lake City.
In corresponding moves, right-handed relief pitcher Robert Stephenson — who’d been out after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024 — was activated off the 60-day injured list, and infielder Scott Kingery was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake City.
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Washington said his hope for Stephenson, who signed a three-year, $33-million deal with the Angels before the 2024 season, is to be eased back into a high-leverage role. Stephenson said he is looking forward to the role he can play on the major league roster.
“To me, it’s like, probably just like, up there with making my debut,” said Stephenson, who made his season and Angels debut Wednesday, tossing a scoreless sixth inning. “I feel like it’s gonna be pretty special for me.”
Kingery, on the other hand, hasn’t appeared in the major leagues since 2022. Bursting on the scene as a top prospect with the Philadelphia Phillies, he featured heavily in the 2018 and 2019 campaigns after signing a six-year, $24-million contract extension before making his MLB debut.
The 31-year-old, who Washington said will play center field, second base and third base, put up 2.7 wins-above-replacement in 2019 before struggling to find any resemblance to his previous success — playing in just 16 combined games in 2021 and 2022 — and was eventually traded to the Angels in November 2024 after spending most of the last four seasons in the minor leagues.
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“It’s hard, it’s a hard game,” Kingery said. “Stuff happens throughout your career, and you got to find ways to battle that and just keep on going. Just keep the foot on the pedal and find ways to make things work.”
Trout nears return
Mike Trout (left knee) continues to check the boxes as he nears a return from the injured list. The longest-tenured Angel and three-time MVP faced live pitching from a minor league pitcher on Wednesday, and performed baserunning drills with more intensity than earlier this week, Washington said.
Washington added that Trout began to cut and stop while running, but he still wasn’t going at 100%.
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“Came out of it very well,” Washington said. “He looks good.”
Trout was hitting .179 with nine home runs and 18 RBIs before suffering a bone bruise in his left knee on April 30.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
