Angels give up 9th-inning lead and lose to A’s in 10th

ANAHEIM — Three weeks ago, before the story of the Angels’ struggles was their anemic offense, the main problem was their bullpen.

On Wednesday night, they combined the two in a gut-wrenching, 6-5, 10-inning loss to the A’s.

The Angels scored five runs in the first two innings, with all the runs coming on three homers, and then they did nothing the rest of the game, including wasting leadoff doubles in the third and fourth, and and automatic runner in the 10th.

They still had a two-run lead in the seventh, but Ryan Zeferjahn and Sam Bachman combined to give one back.

Kirby Yates then gave up a game-tying homer to Jeff McNeil in the ninth. Yates, who missed the first month of the season with a knee injury, had only pitched in four games since coming back, and none of them with a lead. He pitched perfect innings in each of his two previous outings, with four strikeouts.

“We liked the way he was throwing the ball,” Manager Kurt Suzuki said. “We got him to be our closer, right? And the last two outings, we liked the way he was throwing the ball. He was efficient. He was throwing it good. Tonight he just made one mistake to McNeil and he made us pay for it.”

When the Angels signed Yates, he was considered the most likely reliever to at least start the season as the closer. Once he finally got the chance, it took him just seven pitches to surrender a lead. McNeil golfed a 3-and-2 sweeper just over the short fence down the right field line.

“I like the way I threw the ball,” Yates said. “I kind of started losing it on arm side at the end, but other than that, I thought I made a lot of really good pitches. I made a decision to throw McNeil a breaking ball, and it backfired. That’s the decision that I have to live with. But I was convicted in the pitch, and I felt like if I threw a good one, I got him. I didn’t. In a one-run lead, when you make decisions like that and it backfires, you’ve got to sit here and talk about it. That’s the life of being a closer.”

In the 10th, the A’s got their automatic runner home on a Tyler Soderstrom single against Chase Silseth. The ball got between left fielder Josh Lowe and center fielder Mike Trout. Lowe was charged with an error, although it didn’t lead to an extra run.

“Looked like it was kind of right between both of them,” Suzuki said. “I don’t know if one thought they were going to dive or what. And then I think when it dropped, it just kicked through them. One of those things where unfortunately, it got all the way to the wall.”

Lowe, who also made an error in the second inning, then led off the bottom of the inning, and he struck out trying to bunt the automatic runner to third. He had hit a two-run homer to give the Angels a lead in the second inning.

Zach Neto grounded out. After Trout was intentionally walked and Nolan Schanuel walked to load the bases, Jorge Soler grounded out. It sent the Angels (17-33) to their 23rd loss in the last 29 games.

The Angels struggled all night to put together any kind of offense that didn’t involve a ball going over the wall.

Their five runs came from Jorge Soler’s two-run homer in the first, Jo Adell’s solo homer in the second and Lowe’s two-run homer in the second.

But in the third and fourth innings, they had leadoff doubles that they couldn’t convert. Both times they actually got the runner to third with one out. In the third inning, Vaughn Grissom grounded out to the drawn-in infield and then Adell hit a fly out to left.

In the fourth, Oswald Peraza was at third with one out when he got picked off by catcher Shea Langeliers.

“I think he was trying to get a good jump on the swing on that, and (Lowe) swung right through a fastball, and Ozzie got caught,” Suzuki said. “Langeliers is a really good thrower. We know that. And I think (Peraza) just kind of a little bit maybe too aggressive on the contact read, and he got picked off. They made a good play.”

The Angels also had to dig out of a quick hole because Jack Kochanowicz started the game badly, allowing three runs in the first two innings. His control was the main problem. He walked three batters – plus one intentionally – and he hit one. In between, he gave up three hits.

He retired all 12 hitters he faced over the next four innings, throwing just 46 pitches. He threw 72% strikes, after throwing just 54% strikes in the first two innings. In the final four innings Kochanowicz also recorded six of his seven strikeouts, which equaled his season high. He induced 13 whiffs, which was just one shy of his career-high.

“Just trying to just trying to find it those first two innings and then just made the adjustment finally,” Kochanowicz said. “Definitely a little too late. Way too many free passes again and the runs always score. We lost lost by one tonight and I gave up three. Just got to cut down on those walks, really.”