The Los Angeles Angels entered Progressive Field on Monday having played some of their best baseball in months. However, the Cleveland Guardians looked motivated to hold onto their spot atop the American League Central, and did so with a three-game sweep.
This continued an abysmal stretch of play for the Angels in Cleveland. Since 2015, the Halos are just 1-20 when playing at Progressive Field, winning once in 2018 between 10-game losing streaks.
It was still a competitive effort for the Halos, who were tied after 0-0 or held the lead in all three games, but couldn’t hang on for victories. The Angels are now 61-82, guaranteeing they’ll finish below .500 for the seventh consecutive season. That’s the longest active streak in the Majors.
In total, the Guardians outscored the Angels 13-8, the sign of a close three-game set. Here, we break down what went wrong for L.A. as they closed out a 1-5 road trip in Houston and Cleveland.
Game 1: Guardians def. Angels 5-4
In the opener of this mid-week set, the Angels forged a strong comeback just to watch it slip away in the late innings. Reid Detmers started on the mound, and had what is becoming a relatively normal start for the young pitcher.
He was solid and reliable outside of one meltdown inning, this time being the second frame. In that inning, Detmers allowed four runs on four hits and one walk. In his other four innings combined, Detmers held the Guardians scoreless on two hits and one walk.
But the Angels offense did enough to scratch back into the game. A pair of two-run homers — one by Matt Duffy and the other by Mike Trout — tied the game at four apiece, where it stayed until the seventh inning.
There, Aaron Loup gave up an RBI double to Amed Rosario, giving the Guardians a 5-4 lead that they would hold on to through the rest of the evening.
Game 2: Guardians def. Angels 3-1
Jose Suarez was dealing through the first four innings of this Tuesday evening affair. He had allowed just three hits and no walks, and only one runner reached scoring position. In that span, the Angels were able to get an early lead thanks to a home run from Matt Thaiss off of rookie Cody Morris.
But Suarez allowed the tying run to score in the fifth inning. A single, followed by a wild pitch and two sacrifice flies gave the Guardians their first run of the game. It got away from Suarez after that, as he gave up a double and a home run to begin the sixth frame.
Suarez was removed with the Guardians holding a 3-1 lead, transferring the game to the bullpen for both teams. And while the Halos bullpen delivered — 2.2 hitless frames — the Guardians’ did as well.
The Angels got just two baserunners off of the Guardians relief crew, and the 3-1 score held until the end.
Game 3: Guardians def. Angels 5-3
Despite Patrick Sandoval tossing just his second career start with over five innings pitched and zero walks allowed, and the Angels leading when he exited, the same result occurred. Sandoval gave up two earned runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings, with the Halos leading 3-2 at that time.
The Angels runs were scored via a Mickey Moniak home run and a Trout RBI single. But it wasn’t enough, as Jimmy Herget and Ryan Tepera combined to allow three earned runs in just 1.1 innings of work.
Jose Ramirez’s two-run home run off of Tepera in the eighth inning was the final nail in the Angels coffin. It secured their 5-3 victory and a sweep to close out a difficult road trip. The Angels now have a day off before returning home to face the Seattle Mariners.
