Streaking Schanuel shows his power in Baltimore finale

BALTIMORE -- Nolan Schanuel went deep for the first time in four weeks, but defensive mistakes showed up again for the Angels, who now find themselves in need of a response in New York after being swept by the Orioles.

Here’s three things that stood out in the Angels' 11-2 defeat in Sunday's series finale at Camden Yards.

Driving Schanuel
Schanuel hit his fourth home run -- and first since May 19 -- off Orioles opener Scott Blewett and had two hits to continue an impressive extended run as the Angels’ two-hole hitter.

“That ball he hit today, it disappeared,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “I knew he had a little power, but I didn’t know his power was like that."

Since a three-hit game on May 3, Schanuel has slashed .321/.422/.423 in his last 38 games. He’s doubled eight times, homered twice and driven in 13 runs over that span.

The 23-year-old, who was selected 11th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Florida Atlantic, still views his primary role as a table-setter for a middle of the order that includes likely future Hall of Famer Mike Trout and veteran slugger Taylor Ward.

But the aim of the well-documented work Schanuel has put in to improve his bat speed is to make him a more versatile hitter who can occasionally contribute in the manner he did on Sunday.

“It’s not like I intend to just hit singles,” Schanuel said. “When I do get into one, I mean, it feels really good.”

Costly errors
Yusei Kikuchi struck out a season-high 10 batters, but he was forced to accept just his second loss since May began, in part, due to defensive mistakes.

Kikuchi made one himself, throwing wildly while trying to retire Cedric Mullins on a sixth-inning bunt single, a decision that plated Gary Sánchez from first and saw Mullins sprint all the way to third.

“I think if I made a good throw, I probably had him out,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter. “But yeah, the ball was a little slick, a little wet, so it was hard to get the grip on it. So yeah, in hindsight, I probably should’ve held on to it.”

To lead off the bottom of the first, Kevin Newman’s fielding error allowed Jordan Westburg to reach and get to second base, meaning Ramón Urías’ fourth homer gave the Orioles the lead, rather than tying the game at 1.

Those two mistakes meant only three of the five runs Kikuchi allowed over 5 2/3 innings were earned. Los Angeles has third-most team fielding errors in MLB this season with 47.

“I don’t think it ‘keeps happening,'” Washington said of defensive miscues. “It happened today, it happened the other day. But we’re working at it every single day.”

Swept away to New York
After winning three consecutive series and seven of nine before flying east, the Angels were swept in a three-game set for a fourth time this season and third time on the road. They also lost both ends of a two-game series in Seattle to end April.

Now they visit the AL East-leading Yankees for a four-game set after New York became the only visiting team this season to earn a sweep at Anaheim on May 26-28.

“We had a bad series. It happens,” Schanuel said. “But with this group of guys, I think we’ll bounce back quick.”

Washington’s young club has been streaky in both directions. They’ve assembled winning streaks of eight and four games, and losing runs of seven, five and four through their first 70 games.

“We’ve got to go to New York and get back on track,” Washington said. “No one’s lost confidence in that room in there. We’ve just got to play better baseball.”