Garrett Richards was hoping to celebrate his golden birthday with a win. Wednesday, however, didn't go so well for the Los Angeles Angels' starting pitcher.
It went awful.
Richards didn't help himself in the club's 5-4 loss to the San Diego Padres.
He committed two of the Angels' three errors on the night and gave up five runs, three of which were earned, in 6.2 innings of work. While Richards didn't have his best stuff in Game 3 of the three-game set with the Padres, the three errors are the most troublesome to the right-hander.
"Tonight, I gave it away," Richards said.
On a Yangervis Solarte ground ball in the third inning, Richards ran over to cover first base but missed touching the bag on the Albert Pujols' flip.
"I took my eye off it (and) for whatever reason, I just missed it," he said. "That's a play that has to be made."
Trout falls victim to Venable's best Trout impression, writes @RHaylock. http://t.co/EUxxfKkNX8 #MLB #Angels pic.twitter.com/pOWOZ41VUq
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) May 28, 2015
That error didn't cost him or the Angels. He was able to get out of the inning undamaged.
But the play that could force him to push the birthday cake away came in the top of the seventh of a 3-3 game.
After allowing a leadoff walk to Alexi Amarista, JSerra alum and Padres catcher Austin Hedges came to the plate. The Padres' rookie laid down a sacrifice to the left side of the mound. Richards, going to his right, mishandled the ball and couldn't make a throw to first.
Both Amarista and Hedges would later score on RBI singles by Justin Upton and Matt Kemp, respectively, putting the Padres up 5-3 -- a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"You can't pitch like that and not field your position and expect to win," Richards said. "These guys battled and played good and I gave it away. It's a terrible feeling and something I'm going to have to eat."
