Even in defeat, Angels end month with momentum

ANAHEIM -- As the Angels and veteran lefty Tyler Anderson found out Sunday afternoon, all good things eventually come to an end.

The Angels saw their six-game winning streak come to a halt and Anderson saw his season-opening streak of 16 straight starts without allowing more than four runs come to a close in a 7-6 loss to the Tigers in the series finale at Angel Stadium.

The Angels, however, again showed some resiliency. They scored five runs with two outs in the ninth inning on a three-run homer from Zach Neto and a two-run blast from Jo Adell.

The ninth-inning rally wasn’t enough for a victory, but it capped an impressive homestand and month, as the Angels went 6-1 against the A’s and Tigers to finish June with a 15-11 record.

“We didn’t quit and kept coming,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “We just kept coming and finally broke through. We just didn’t do enough.”

Anderson, who entered with a 2.63 ERA in 16 outings this year and a 3.00 ERA in five June starts, turned in his worst outing of the year. He went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and a walk to fall to 7-8. It was just the second time all season he couldn't get through five innings. (He went 4 1/3 frames at Boston on April 14.)

“Just got to flush it and move on to the next one,” Anderson said. “Sometimes you make good pitches and they hit them at guys, and there are times you make a good pitch and it finds a hole.”

Anderson, though, still has a case to be an All-Star for the second time in his career, following his selection with the Dodgers in 2022. It’s going to be an interesting July for the nine-year veteran, as he could be a trade target. He’s under contract next season at $13 million, which increases his value, but also makes the Angels more reluctant to trade him because he would be tough to replace next season if they intend to compete.

But Anderson had trouble from the start on Sunday, giving up a leadoff triple to open the game and the first run on a sacrifice fly to Mark Canha to put the Angels in an early hole. He got through the second and third innings unscathed, but it unraveled for him in the fourth and fifth.

It started in the fourth, when he put two runners in scoring position with one out and gave up a run on a rare 5-2-3 RBI groundout from Gio Urshela. But something even more rare happened with the very next batter, as Justyn-Henry Malloy connected on an inside-the-park homer to bring home two runs.

Center fielder Mickey Moniak misread the deep drive to center as it tailed toward right field. He then didn’t appear to hustle after the ball after it hit the wall. Left fielder Taylor Ward also didn’t react until the ball hit off the wall, so Moniak had to recover it, allowing Malloy to score easily without a throw.

Washington said the outfield coaches talked with both Moniak and Ward after the play. It was the first inside-the-park homer at Angel Stadium since Tommy La Stella hit one on June 25, 2019 against the Reds.

“It looked like Moniak jumped too quickly,” Washington said. “He had another step and a half. By the time he got there, it hit the wall and was in no man’s land.”

Anderson went back out for the fifth and walked Andy Ibáñez to lead off the inning before giving up a two-out single to Jake Rogers. Anderson was lifted after having thrown 88 pitches, and long reliever Andrew Wantz was brought in for his season debut. But Wantz was greeted by a three-run homer from Carson Kelly to give Detroit a seven-run lead.

The Angels, though, didn’t roll over, as evidenced by their rally in the ninth. They have been pleased with the progress they’ve been making. And they’ll look to build on it in July with several series against teams currently below .500, like the A’s (10 games), Cubs (three games), Rangers (three games) and Rockies (two games).

“We’re playing good baseball, overall,” Anderson said. “Down big right there, for the guys to have great at-bats and put up five was awesome. Obviously, we didn't finish it. But there was a lot of fight from the guys, which was huge, and always good to see.”