ANAHEIM -- After scoring a combined 19 runs, powered by 10 homers, in a three-game series win in Tampa Bay from April 8-10, it looked like the Angels offense was starting to roll after a slow start to the year.
But since then, the offense has gone cold again, as the Angels have averaged just 2.5 runs per game over their last 10 contests and have gone 3-7 over that stretch. They’ve scored more than four runs just once during that time frame and it came in Sunday’s wild 5-4 walk-off win over the Giants that saw them score four times in the ninth. Those offensive woes continued in a 9-3 loss to the Pirates, as they managed just five hits compared to 18 from Pittsburgh in the series opener on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.
“We got back in the ballgame and then we couldn't stop them from scoring,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “I think if we stopped them from scoring a little bit more, it might have made a bigger difference. But you just have to take it a day at a time and keep working.”
The Angels have shown plenty of power this year, as their 34 homers rank as the fourth-most in the Majors this season behind only the Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs. Taylor Ward added to that total with a solo shot in the third, his sixth of the year. But Washington wants to see his offense stop relying so much on home runs to score this season.
“I did say in Tampa that I don’t want to be a home-run-hitting team,” Washington said. “We’ve got guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark, but I don't want to be a home run hitting team. I just want to be a team that continues to pass the baton over to the next guy. The guys in that lineup who can hit it out of the ballpark, they're going to take their shots. But not everybody in that lineup can take a shot at a home run.”
Washington wants the offense to look more like it did in that final inning against San Francisco on Sunday, the Angels scored those four runs without the help of a homer. They loaded the bases because of a walk and two singles before Zach Neto was hit by a pitch to plate a run and Jo Adell ripped a game-winning three-run double down the left-field line.
“No doubt about it, I'd like to see that,” Washington said. “I like to see three or four of those hits get put together. And that's what sustaining is. And I keep talking about it, but we haven't been able to sustain anything with base hits. That's what you want to see. You just want to see innings keep going. And the more the innings keep going, the more you can turn the lineup over and your best hitters all of a sudden end up in the batter's box at crucial times.”
Adell had a similar hit against the Pirates, smacking an RBI double down the left-field line as part of a two-run fourth. He said he believes they’ve been pressing too much at the plate during their recent rough stretch, as everyone wants to be the one to help them get out of this rut.
“I think the attitude in the past week was everybody trying to be the hero,” Adell said. “You know what I mean? And I think we just have to continue to work to get back to going pitch to pitch and swinging at the pitches we want to swing at. And if it's not there, let the next guy do his job. When we take care of the strike zone, we're all a tough out.”
Washington said he’s not sure if it was a recent shift in mentality, but either way he’d like to see them put together more consistent rallies going forward. But, he’s confident the offense will get better, especially with their recent boost of adding Neto to the mix on Friday.
“I don't know if that happened, because we went into Houston and we faced some young pitching that was pretty good,” Washington said. “Sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat to the other team. And in [Texas] we didn’t score any runs but they did pitch well. But we were in ballgames. Again, it’s the first month, we have to make some adjustments, and I think we will make those adjustments.”