How quickly the Angels' road trip dissolved into a fit of frustration.
Tuesday night, they were soaring after consecutive victories over the Texas Rangers. By late Thursday night, they were preparing to board a charter flight to Chicago with a split of the four-game series – and a nagging sense they could have, and should have, swept.
How did it happen? The Angels blew 7-1 and 10-7 leads on Wednesday, then wasted more opportunities Thursday in a horrendous 15-9 defeat at the Ballpark at Arlington. Both times, their starting pitching imploded and their weary bullpen collapsed from overwork.
For the Rangers, salvaging the last two games after losing the first two can’t be viewed as anything but a success. They came from behind both times, and they sent the Angels on their way with the same deficit in the American League West as when they arrived on Monday – five games.
The Angels could have left town just one game behind the Rangers, and they could have beaten Texas’ newest acquisition, pitcher Ryan Dempster, who was chased after giving up nine hits and eight earned runs in 4 2/3 innings Thursday. Dempster yielded more earned runs than he had in his previous seven starts combined with the Chicago Cubs.
There was no shortage of offense. The Angels combined for 19 runs in the last two games (and 40 in the series) and set a club record for a four-game road series with 13 home runs. But without shutdown pitching and strong relief work, offense goes only so far.
The Angels didn’t have enough of either. Rookie Garrett Richards, sent to Triple-A Salt Lake on Thursday, failed to protect a 7-1 lead in the third inning Wednesday. CJ Wilson surrendered 10 hits and eight earned runs Thursday, pitching into the sixth only so that manager Mike Scioscia could reduce the strain on his bullpen.
Wilson was winless in July and now has gone seven consecutive starts without a victory. He had a 2-0 lead in the first inning, gave up five runs in the second and was let off the hook by his offense, which took an 8-7 lead after five innings.
But the Angels’ bullpen is strained. In the last two games of the series, Scioscia called on his bullpen seven times for a total of 6 1/3 innings. That came on the heels of a four-inning stint by Jerome Williams on Monday.
Williams was required to throw 83 pitches in that game and came back three days later but couldn’t retire either batter he faced in the seventh.
Right-hander Zack Greinke, the newest Angel, will start Friday against the White Sox, and he undoubtedly realizes how important it is to give the Angels a quality start. In his debut last Sunday, he went seven innings against the Tampa Bay Rays but lost. At this point, the Angels will be happy if he eats up innings and gives the bullpen a rest.
The Angels need a productive start and a reversal of momentum.
