Athletics allow another pitcher to get well in road loss to Angels

Athletics' offense handcuffed again in series-opening loss to Angels.

The Athletics are where struggling opposing pitchers go to get well.

Right-hander Griffin Canning handcuffed the A’s to a single run in going seven innings for the first time this season in a 5-1 win by the Angels in the first of a three-game road series in Anaheim.

Canning, who gave up five hits and one earned run with a single walk and five strikeouts, improved to 3-8. In the A’s loss Sunday, Pablo Torres, a right-hander who has had difficulties with consistency this season, shut down the A’s with 14 strikeouts in eight innings.

Before giving way to Ben Joyce in the eighth, Canning threw 97 pitches, 68 of which were strikes. Hans Crouse pitched the ninth for the Angels, getting his first out when Taylor Ward stole a potential home run from Tyler Soderstrom at the left field fence.

“He can pitch,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters. “The change-up was on tonight, 88 to 89 with good sink and run. He didn’t leave a lot of strikes over the middle.”

The A’s put two runners aboard against Joyce on a single by JJ Bleday and a walk to Miguel Andujar, but Joyce struck out Brent Rooker on a 101 miles per hour fastball to end the inning.

The A’s complete the first half of the 2024 season with a 29-52 record, with the Angels improving to 31-46.

It was the first in a stretch where the American League West bottom feeders play each other 13 times in a 28-game span, theortically giving both teams a chance to improve their disappointing won-loss records. Even new Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh turned out to watch.

Ward homered for the Angels, his 13th, in the first inning, on a 3-1 sinker. Tyler Nevin hit a solo shot for the A’s in the second to center field, his fifth of the season.

Luis Medina (1-3) was done after an inefficient three innings that consumed 79 pitches, 31 in a first inning that included Ward’s two-run home run and then a 35-pitch third. That inning had two walks, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly by Logan O’Hoppe and a second run scoring on Mickey Moniak’s line shot to first that went for a tough error on Soderstrom and brought in another run.

“He really had zero command,” Kotsay said. “It’s tough when you don’t have command and can’t execute pitches. We’ll take a dive into into what’s causing this and make corrections.”

In the top of the fourth, after the Angels had scored twice, Canning struck out Soderstrom and Shea Langeliers swinging and then Nevin on a fly to center.

In the sixth, after Andjuar opened with a double down the left field line, he was promptly picked off on a perfect daylight play from Canning to Michael Stefanic.

After retiring the first six hitters he faced, A’s reliever Aaron Brooks gave up back to back doubles to Zach Neto and Moniak to give the Angels a 5-1 lead.

Brooks performed a valuable service for the A’s bullpen, throwing the last five innings and giving up just the one run with two walks and two strikeouts. Brooks threw 65 pitches, 41 of which were strikes.

Nevin, a Southern California native whose father Phil was the Angels’ manager in 2022 and 2023, said he wasn’t trying to do anything special on his home run.

“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit early,” Nevin said. “You get one of those in the big leagues you can’t let it go.”

As for playing in Anaheim, Nevin said, “I love being out west and I had a lot of friends and family in the stands to see me play, which was nice.”