Angels suffer 6th straight loss after Yusei Kikuchi exits early with injury

CHICAGO — The Angels’ nightmare trip ended Wednesday afternoon by adding a concern with the starting rotation to the problems with their bullpen.

The day began with starter Yusei Kikuchi leaving after two innings with shoulder tightness, and it ended with reliever Drew Pomeranz on the mound for a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox.

The Angels took a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, but right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn gave up a run with two outs. Three of the Angels’ losses on their 0-6 trip included blown leads in the seventh inning or later.

“It’s really tough,” Zeferjahn said. “One more out and just I couldn’t do it. We’ve been battling. We battled all day today. It really sucks, but everyone picked each other up still. We’re close-knit guys and guys are still going out there every day and giving it all they got, and I think we’re going to get on track here soon.”

Whether they’ll have Kikuchi to help them do it remains to be seen.

He said he started to feel some tightness in his shoulder on his fastballs during his previous outing, and this time it began in the first inning. He needed 24 pitches to get through a scoreless first. Although he got through the second without giving up a run, his fastball velocity dropped.

Kikuchi took the mound in the third for his warmups, but was quickly met by a trainer, Manager Kurt Suzuki and pitching coach Mike Maddux, and he left the game.

“I felt tightness in my shoulder when I throw fastballs only,” Kikuchi said through his interpreter. “I felt like I could push through if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to take any chances at that moment, so I decided to sit down.”

He said he’ll talk with the training staff when the Angels return home to determine his next step.

“Anytime you have to come out of the game, I think it’s a concern,” Suzuki said. “We’ll go check it and re-evaluate it tomorrow and see how he feels and see where we’re at.”

Kikuchi has a 5.81 ERA after seven starts, a disappointment on the heels of his 3.99 ERA last year and his $21 million salary. He has been struggling to get his arm angle where he wants it and said he didn’t think tinkering with his mechanics led to the shoulder problem.

“I don’t think that was a cause of this issue,” he said. “I feel like my condition was getting better every start, so I’m just frustrated at the moment.”

In the meantime, the Angels also have to sort out their bullpen. They haven’t converted a save since April 6, and they’ve now lost five games in which they had a lead at some point in the seventh inning or later.

The bullpen was put in a rough spot by Kikuchi’s early exit, but left-hander Mitch Farris – just called up from Salt Lake – did a nice job over 3⅓ innings. He gave up one run. He threw 62 pitches and recorded 11 outs. Even though his fastball averaged just 90 mph, he still got 14 whiffs.

The Angels tied the score on Mike Trout’s 10th homer of the season in the fourth, and they took the lead on Vaughn Grissom’s first homer, in the seventh, which finally gave the bullpen a lead to protect.

Right-handers Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman got through the sixth and seventh, and then Zeferjahn pitched a perfect eighth, striking out the side on 16 pitches. He went through the heart of the Chicago order: Munetaka Murakami, Austin Hays and Colson Montgomery.

Although Zeferjahn has had problems this year when he’s returned to the mound for a second inning, he said he’s been working on a mechanical issue that should make him more effective. Suzuki was willing to give him a shot.

“That was my guy that I wanted to go with for, obviously ideally it would have only been one (inning),” Suzuki said. “We felt like when he came in for Murakami and Montgomery, that was a big spot. We wanted him for that, and he was pretty efficient. Then figured we send him out. We lost with the guy that we wanted out there.”

Zeferjahn hit Tristan Peters with a pitch with one out. He got the second out, but then he hung a sweeper that Sam Antonacci pulled into the right field corner for a game-tying triple.

“I left it all out there,” Zeferjahn said. “It was two pitches I’d like to have back.”

Zeferjahn preserved the tie, but Pomeranz lost in the 10th. The Angels intentionally walked the right-handed Miguel Vargas to get the left-handed Pomeranz a shot at the left-handed Murakami, who had homered against him Monday. This time, Pomeranz walked him on four pitches, loading the bases.

The Angels got an out on a force at the plate, but Montgomery then singled to center, ending the game.

With 10 losses in their last 11 games, the Angels are now 12-20, with all of the encouraging vibes from their 11-10 start gone.

“It’s definitely not fun,” Suzuki said, “but get a nice off day tomorrow, reset and get ready for the homestand.”