ANAHEIM, Calif. —Joe Maddon has insisted that the Angels have the ingredients to be a championship team, but he conceded that they didn’t look like one in their 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.
The Angels made two critical defensive mistakes that led to three unearned runs in the seventh, just after they had taken a two-run lead.
“You can slice that how many different ways you want to, we should have won the game,” Maddon said. “We didn’t win it because of us… We beat ourselves tonight. You can’t win championships doing that kind of stuff. You cannot. We have to be better than that. It’s not for lack of work, or lack of caring. We’ve just got to make those plays.”
The defensive mistakes spoiled a night in which Mike Trout hit his third and fourth homers — setting a franchise record with his 21st multi-homer game — and Noah Syndergaard bounced back from a rough first inning to allow two runs in 5-2/3 innings.
Brandon Marsh then put the Angels on top with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, bringing the crowd 43,883 to its feet.
Then it all fell apart.
With one out and a runner at first in the seventh, left-hander Aaron Loup hit Cedric Mullins with a pitch. Anthony Santander then hit a routine bouncer to third baseman Anthony Rendon, whose throw was high. It was Rendon’s fourth error already this season.
Maddon said that Rendon’s throwing issues this season are the result of recovering from hip surgery.
“I still think that’s the residue of the bottom half healing,” Maddon said. “I really do. So just give a little bit more time. He’s not going to make an excuse. He’s made some great throws too. If anything, his arm’s normally a lot more accurate than that.”
Marsh also made a costly mistake just after Rendon’s throwing error. With the bases loaded and the Angels still up by two, Trey Mancini hit a line drive to Marsh in left. Catcher Anthony Bemboom tagged from third. Marsh made a high throw to the plate, which allowed the two trail runners to move up. They ended up scoring the tying and go-ahead runs on a single.
“One hundred percent I wanted to keep it lower,” Marsh said. “It just came out hot. I wanted to keep it low enough to maybe still have a play on Bemboom at home and keep Cedric at second. It was high. That’s on me. It was not intentional to do that.”
The poor defensive execution in the top of the seventh cost the Angels on a night that they got another solid start from Syndergaard.
In three starts with the Angels, Syndergaard’s only real problem has been holding runners, something he’s struggled without throughout his career.
Syndergaard has allowed four runs in 17 innings, and stolen bases have led directly to three of them. The Orioles stole three bases against him in a two-run first inning on Saturday, while he also walked a batter and hit a batter.
For the game, the Orioles stole four bases in four attempts. In his career, Syndergaard has allowed runners to steal on 89% of their attempts.
The Angels will accept that flaw if he keeps pitching this well, though.
After the first inning, he tacked on four scoreless innings, including a stretch of nine consecutive hitters retired. He then struck out the first two hitters in the sixth before a walk and a single ended his night.
“In the first inning I kind of resorted back to my old ways of trying to be too fine and trying to aim the ball and just trying to throw it through a keyhole, as opposed to just being kind of free and easy,” Syndergaard said. “It just goes to show how tempo and rhythm affects everything. I got better as the game went on. Hopefully that’s the worst start off season.”
