NEW YORK — Not even Shohei Ohtani could stop the Angels’ losing streak.
Ohtani was charged with four runs in three innings, his second consecutive rough outing, and the Angels lost, 6-1, to the New York Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday.
It was the Angels’ seventh loss in a row, their longest losing streak since they dropped eight in a row in August 2019.
Ohtani had never allowed at least four runs in back-to-back games before this effort, which came on the heels of allowing five runs in six innings in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last week.
Ohtani said he had some back tightness in that game. The Angels gave him the day off the next day, but he’d been in the lineup as the designated hitter every game since.
Ohtani’s primary issue Thursday was an inability to miss the Yankees’ bats.
Matt Carpenter led off the game with an 11-pitch at-bat, capped by yanking a homer just inside the right field pole. Anthony Rizzo later worked a 10-pitch at-bat before striking out.
All told, Ohtani induced just three whiffs in 41 Yankees swings, which was the second-lowest whiff percentage of his career.
Gleyber Torres hit a solo homer in the first and Aaron Judge blasted a homer in the third. The three homers equaled the career high allowed by Ohtani.
Manager Joe Maddon pulled him after he gave up a pair of singles to start the fourth, and one of those runners came home.
The Angels had a chance to hang in the game early, but they left the bases loaded in the second inning and they left two on in the third. After that, the Angels did not have multiple runners on in any inning against Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes, who cut his ERA to 1.50 with seven scoreless innings.
The moment that symbolized the kind of afternoon it was for the Angels came in the bottom of the fifth.
With a runner at first and one out, Jose Trevino hit a grounder toward Luis Rengifo, who was in position to start an inning-ending double play. But the ball hit umpire Chris Guccione, deflecting away for a hit. The Yankees then scored another run.
More to come on this story.
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