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Angels relievers pounded in blowout loss to Astros

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ANAHEIM — Joe Maddon warned that there might be moments like these hours before the Angels’ 13-6 loss to the Houston Astros on Friday night.

In his pregame press conference, the Angels manager said that immediately after the shortened spring training, he would not use his relievers on back-to-back days, so “you might find a matchup you don’t like. That’s just the way it’s going to roll for a little bit.”

Maddon had used his top three – arguably his top four – setup men in trying to secure a victory on Opening Day, so in the second game he was left with his closer and the bottom half of his bullpen, and they never got anywhere near the closer.

Relievers Oliver Ortega (two runs), Mike Mayers (three), Jimmy Herget (four) and Jaime Barria (two) combined to allow 11 runs in the final five innings, including four homers. The Astros scored eight runs in the seventh.

While a game that bad is never to be expected, Maddon also knew he was using his weakest part of the bullpen.

“We didn’t have the same bullpen (as on Opening Day),” Maddon said. “We tried to piece it together that way, and it just did not want to work. They got us.”

Angel Stadium was filled with 42,719 fans on a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night, and they left with nothing to celebrate besides their new memorabilia.

Although the Angels’ bullpen let the game get away at the end, in the first half of the game the Astros’ defense was the difference.

Left fielder Michael Brantley made a perfect throw to nail Jared Walsh at the plate in the first. Third baseman Alex Bregman made a diving stop of a chopper by Tyler Wade in the second inning. In the fourth, just after a leadoff double by Jose Rojas, Brandon Marsh was robbed of a hit on a diving catch by center fielder José Siri.

Siri then started the top of the fifth by using his speed to create the tie-breaking run.

Siri led off against Ortega with a bloop single. He then stole second and took third on a fly ball to right field. José Altuve then hit a bouncer directly to third baseman Anthony Rendon, who took a look at Siri and threw to first. Siri went back to the bag when Rendon looked at him, but the moment he turned away to throw to first, Siri bolted home. With Siri running at an elite 31.2 feet per second, first baseman Walsh rushed and made a bad throw home, allowing the run to score.

“I thought he did everything right,” Maddon said of Rendon. “I was surprised that Siri broke. With an accurate throw (from Walsh) I think he would have been out. You got a left-handed first baseman that has to make the more difficult throw.”

Ortega then gave up a homer to Bregman in the sixth, opening the floodgates. Mayers started the seventh and didn’t retire any of the three hitters he faced.

While the bullpen had a bad night, starter Reid Detmers could have saved them a little work if he’d been more efficient. Detmers gave up a pair of solo homers, to José Altuve leading off the game and to Aledmys Diaz in the fourth. He needed 29 pitches to get out of the first, which didn’t bode well for him on a night when he was limited to around 80 pitches because of the shortened spring.

It took Detmers 75 pitches to get 12 outs.

“I felt good,” Detmers said. “I just wasn’t I wasn’t attacking very well, leaving pitches up and away. Fastball command was not very good. Obviously, when that’s not very good, it’s gonna be hard to pitch.”

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Detmers left in a 2-2 game, the Angels having scored both of their runs in the first inning.

Shohei Ohtani led off the game with his first hit of the season, a single. An out later, Rendon singled. Jared Walsh then dropped a single into left, driving in Ohtani. Rendon then scored on a passed ball.

Marsh then poked a single into left and third base coach Phil Nevin put the pressure on left fielder Michael Brantley by sending Walsh. Brantley made a perfect throw and Walsh was out by a foot.

“They have notoriously good defense,” Maddon said. “They played well against us, so we have to pick up our game. We have to pitch a little bit better. We have to get more consistent offense. Things everybody wants to do, but they’ve come out of the chute playing well. Give them credit.”

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