Patrick Sandoval fails to overcome defensive mistakes in Angels’ loss
SEATTLE — Patrick Sandoval and Mike Moustakas each took responsibility for the Angels’ 8-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
Sandoval gave up three more unearned runs, increasing his major league-leading total to 19, after Moustakas failed to come up with three plays at third base, which was at least partly because he was playing with a sore left wrist that knocked him out of the game in the fifth.
“I gotta get better at picking up the guys when things don’t go right,” Sandoval said. “To be the kind of starter I want to be in this league, I need to definitely improve in that area. Be able to pick guys up. It’s a letdown to myself every time something goes wrong. I just can’t seem to pitch my way out of it. It’s just something I need to improve on.”
Chicago Cubs right-hander Justin Steele – the MLB ERA leader at 2.49 – has allowed 12 unearned runs, which is second to Sandoval by a wide margin. While Sandoval’s ERA is 4.48, he has actually allowed 5.73 runs per nine innings.
Clearly, it’s become a trend for Sandoval, but that didn’t stop Moustakas from accepting the blame too.
“Those are routine balls,” Moustakas said. “All three of those plays I need to make. If I make any of those plays, Sandy has a great outing. It’s on me that those plays weren’t made and he had to labor through those innings and they scored a lot of runs because of them. And that’s on me.”
One out into the first inning, Moustakas whiffed at a ground ball from Julio Rodriguez. Sandoval then gave up an infield hit to Teoscar Hernandez, also on a bouncer that Moustakas said he should have fielded quickly enough to get the out. After a strikeout of Cal Raleigh for the second out, Sandoval gave up three straight hits.
Eugenio Suarez’s single into center was a blooper, but the next two were solid hits down the left field line. Sandoval was spared a fourth run when shortstop Zach Neto fired a perfect strike to catcher Logan O’Hoppe to nail Ty France trying to score.
Sandoval then pitched two perfect innings before the wheels came off in the fourth, again following a misplay by Moustakas. A ground ball from France hopped just past Moustakas’ glove. It was charitably ruled a single. Sandoval then allowed clean hits to four of the next five hitters, producing four runs.
Moustakas came out of the game after that inning. He said his wrist has been sore since attempting a diving play at first a few days ago. He’s not sure if he’ll need any days off.
As for Sandoval, Manager Phil Nevin said the 26-year-old lefty needs to find a way to make a pitch, even after something out of his control goes wrong.
“I’ve said all along, the next pitch is too important,” Nevin said. “You’ve got to reel yourself back in, stay focused and make good pitches, make good plays, take good swings. And he got hurt after those errors. He’s getting better at it. His body language is better. He’s attacking things afterwards. It’s understandable when things don’t go your way, you might have some issues afterwards, but you gotta make better pitches then.”
Nevin said he’s not “concerned” about it being a problem for Sandoval in the long run, because it comes from his competitiveness, and having a player who gets too emotional is better than the alternative.
“I’d rather have to bring a guy back in than have to kick him sometimes,” Nevin said. “He’s a competitor and lets it get the best of him sometimes, but he wants to win.”
Sandoval gave up a homer to Suarez in the fifth, which was his last inning.
Sandoval and Moustakas weren’t the only Angels to have bad nights. The lineup produced just four singles.
Two of the hits came from rookie Nolan Schanuel, who stretched his streak to 19 straight games reaching base safely, extending his franchise record for the longest such streak to begin a major league career.
Neto also had a nice night in the field, besides his throw in the first. He charged in to field José Caballero’s bouncer in the sixth. Neto also had to dodge a broken bat while grabbing a Sam Haggerty one-hopper.