ANAHEIM -- Michael Kopech battled during his start against the Angels in a 4-2 setback Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.

The right-hander fought to limit the Angels (44-37) to just two runs on four hits over four-plus innings -- including a first-inning home run from winning pitcher Shohei Ohtani (7-3) -- because he was battling his control for much of his 102-pitch outing. This is a trend Kopech (3-7) has fallen into of late.

Based on his quiet frustration during his postgame media session, the highly competitive young hurler is having a tough time finding answers or solutions.

“Nothing I can pinpoint,” Kopech said. “Just bad baseball on my part.”

“His command wasn’t typical Kopech,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’ll throw some pitches. But he normally limits walks.”

Kopech’s walk total on Tuesday hit seven, meaning he has walked 16 over his last 12 1/3 innings against 12 strikeouts. Prior to this rut, Kopech had fanned 85 and walked 33 in 73 2/3 innings.

In five of his last six starts, Kopech has failed to work beyond the fifth inning. He didn't finish the fifth in four of those. Against the Angels, Kopech departed following Ohtani’s single and a walk issued to Brandon Drury with nobody out in the fifth. Reliever Touki Toussaint kept the deficit at two via a Mike Moustakas double play and a Hunter Renfroe strikeout.

“Gave away a lot of free bases. Able to limit that damage. Gave it over to the bullpen early,” Kopech said. “Touki did a hell of a job. He came in and covered a lot of ground for us.

“Kind of picked up my slack. I think [the relievers] were able to do a pretty good job considering what I handed over to them. Can’t give away that many free bases.”

Ohtani also homered off Toussaint in the seventh, ending Toussaint’s 6 1/3 hitless-innings streak to open his White Sox career. On the mound for the Angels, the game’s best player struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings before leaving with a cracked middle fingernail.

Of course, the White Sox were doing all they could to beat Ohtani. They also could appreciate his immense accomplishments.

“He’s extremely talented,” Grifol said. “He’s probably the best player in the game, so he was tough to hit and he’s tough to pitch to.”

“We were talking about that,” White Sox third baseman Jake Burger said. “He throws 100 pitches, comes out of the game and hits another home run. What he’s doing is pretty incredible when you see it with your own eyes.”

Although the White Sox fell to 6-26 in games played at Angel Stadium since May 18, 2013, they didn’t go down without a fight. Four straight hits off closer Carlos Estévez in the ninth brought in one run and loaded the bases with nobody out.

But Estévez struck out Seby Zavala and induced an Elvis Andrus game-ending double play on a 98.4 mph four-seamer in a 0-2 count.

“I thought Seby took some really good swings. Just fouled a couple of balls off,” Grifol said. “Elvis got behind in the count there, trying to put the ball in play, and hit it to the wrong spot. We want guys to put the ball in play and not strike out in those situations. He did and hit it to the wrong spot.”

The Twins slipped to 40-41 atop the American League Central with a 6-2 loss in Atlanta, making them the first division leader to be below .500 at the halfway mark since the Astros were 40-41 in 1997 atop the NL Central. Those numbers matter very little, though, with the White Sox sitting 13 games under at 34-47.

Every game they have played in June has been decided by four runs or fewer, with the White Sox posting an 11-12 mark. Kopech believes a different outcome could have been found Tuesday if his battle turned into sharper command, a continuing trend even with an extra day of rest.

“I feel like I never got ahead of anybody. When that happens guys start to be a little more patient,” Kopech said. “Whether the misses are close or not, it doesn’t really matter.

“I’ve got to get ahead of guys. Had an early middle-cut fastball get taken deep by a good hitter, and that’s going to happen. But if I get ahead of that guy, I don’t make that pitch. If I don’t throw that pitch, that swing doesn’t happen. Put myself in a lot of rough situations.”