BALTIMORE — The first two hitters of the game reached base for the Angels on Friday night.
The next three struck out.
It was an ominous start to what would continue to be a frustrating, rainy night for the Angels, who wasted numerous opportunities on their way to a 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
The Angels struck out 15 times, including six with runners in scoring position. The Angels went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and they hit into two double plays.
Top prospect Christian Moore, who came up twice with a runner in scoring position, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his major league debut.
“That was unreal,” Moore said. “Best day of my life. Everything you dream of. Everything you hear people talk about. The buzz. Everything. It’s that. The adrenaline. It’s the bright lights. It’s fun. I’m just grateful to be here and be able to put this uniform on and play with these guys.”
Even though the Angels (33-35) outhit the Orioles 8-6, they couldn’t overcome the two solo home runs that starter Jack Kochanowicz allowed.
Kochanowicz lasted only 4⅓ innings because his night was ended by a 69-minute rain delay in the fifth inning. There was also a 67-minute delay before the first pitch.
Of some consolation to the Angels, Kochanowicz was mostly sharp before the rain came.
Kochanowicz threw two bad pitches. He hung a slider to Ryan O’Hearn in the second and he misplaced a changeup to Ramon Laureano in the fifth, and both pitches wound up on the other side of the fence.
Besides those two solo homers, the only hit Kochanowicz allowed was an infield hit. He struck out two and didn’t walk anyone.
Kochanowicz, who brought a 5.61 ERA to the mound, said this was a step in the right direction.
“That’s back to myself,” he said. “Just a good one to build off. Obviously, the rain cut it short. That’s where I want to be. Just trying to stay right there.”
Kochanowicz recorded seven outs on six grounders. He needed just 53 pitches to get 13 outs.
“He was getting ground balls,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He was working fast. Got into the fifth inning with one out close to 50 pitches. He was about to get into the seventh inning. We just didn’t support him, because we just couldn’t put runs on board. Tonight we had some chances early, but we just couldn’t get nothing going early to support him.”
Kochanowicz couldn’t match 41-year-old Orioles right-hander Charlie Morton.
After Zach Neto led off the game with a walk and Nolan Schanuel singled, Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Logan O’Hoppe struck out. The Angels had two on and no outs in the fourth, too. A strikeout and two groundouts spoiled that chance.
The Angels struck out 10 times in five innings against Morton. Even after the second delay ended Morton’s night, the Angels could do nothing with the Baltimore bullpen.
The strikeout total increased the Angels’ major league leading total to 664. They have struck out in 27% of their plate appearances.
“All we have to do is put some runs on the board,” Washington said. “We’re gonna swing and miss. We’ve got those kind of guys. We’re gonna swing and miss. We don’t have (Luis) Arraez, those kind of guys. We’ve got guys that are gonna swing the bat. (Nolan) Schanuel doesn’t strike out that much, and he went down one time tonight. That’s who we are. Just got to bounce back tomorrow.”
