Growing pains 'something to build on' for Kochanowicz

OAKLAND -- After struggling in his Major League debut against the Mariners on July 11, Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz was given another shot against the A’s on Saturday.

But Kochanowicz had another rough outing in his first career road start, allowing seven runs on seven hits and three walks over four innings in an 8-2 loss at the Oakland Coliseum. Kochanowicz, ranked as the club's No. 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has posted a 14.14 ERA with 11 earned runs in seven innings through his first two big league outings. The 23-year-old, though, believes he can learn from his tough starts going forward. He was one pitch away from getting out of a jam in the fourth inning before it unraveled and ended his outing on a sour note.

"I thought it was an improved outing, obviously not exactly what I wanted,” Kochanowicz said. “It started in the first when I let things speed up on me. But I settled in a little bit. It was just one pitch away, but then things got out of hand there. But it’s something to build on.”

Kochanowicz, who was called up after a solid stretch with Double-A Rocket City, had trouble from the start, allowing a one-out single to Miguel Andujar before surrendering a double to JJ Bleday and a long three-run homer to Brent Rooker on a 1-1 sinker down and in. It put the Angels in an early three-run hole, but Kochanowicz was able to settle down a bit until the fourth inning.

"Obviously, I'm trying to work down in the zone. Good Major League hitters, sometimes they make adjustments,” Kochanowicz said. "So I can't be too mad about that. I just told myself, 'Keep trusting what you do.' I feel like if I make mistakes, they hit it. But as long as I make my pitches, I’ll be all right. I was able to do that a little bit for a few innings and then it just kind of got away. So it’s stuff to build on.”

But in the fourth, he loaded the bases with two outs after giving up a single to Kyle McCann and walking Brett Harris on four pitches. He fell behind Max Schuemann on a 3-0 count before eventually walking him on five pitches to bring home a run.

Angels manager Ron Washington stuck with Kochanowicz to face Lawrence Butler, who has been red-hot and has been a thorn in the Angels’ side this season. Butler again came through, connecting on a bases-clearing three-run double to right, but was thrown out at third to end the inning. It also ended Kochanowicz’s day after 74 pitches, with 45 going for strikes. But lefty Kenny Rosenberg picked up the slack by throwing four strong innings in long relief to help the bullpen.

“I had somebody warming up but I thought he would make that one pitch to get out of there,” Washington said. “But he's growing. The way they jumped on him in the first inning, and then he came back in the second and third and started doing some good things. But then in that fourth inning, he lost his command.”

The 6-foot-7, 228-pounder has impressive raw stuff with his sinker reaching as high as 97.4 mph to go along with his curveball and changeup. But now it's about locating and sequencing it better to get the most out of it. He struck out four and induced seven swings-and-misses, including four with his curveball, but he needs to stay away from the middle of the zone.

After two starts under his belt, it’s unclear whether Kochanowicz will get the chance to stick in the club’s thin rotation, as the Angels are evaluating their options.

Kochanowicz didn’t get much help from the offense, however, as the Angels didn’t get their first hit until the fourth inning against right-hander Mitch Spence despite scoring in the third on a sacrifice fly. They didn’t score again until Zach Neto's RBI double in the sixth, but the game was out of reach by that point after Kochanowicz’s rough first and fourth innings.

It marked the second straight lopsided loss out of the All-Star break for the Angels, who were looking to build on some momentum after winning three out of four against the Mariners to finish the first half. Washington said they need to flip the script and get back on track.

"That's the story of the past two days, we couldn't stop their offense and their pitching stopped our offense,” Washington said. “And every opportunity we got, we got the minimal damage done. Every opportunity they got, they cashed in big time. So we need to change our formula for that."