Angels Hit Big Early, Lose to Rangers – Daily News

ARLINGTON — Angels manager Ron Washington loves teaching baseball. It’s been his calling card in nearly three decades as a Major League coach and manager.

At 72, he still loves it. And that’s a good thing, because the Young Angels are giving him plenty of opportunities to learn as 2024 comes to a close.

The Angels committed 80 errors, including two more, during their 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field.

That’s four more errors than the league average in 2024, and it’s certainly not the team Washington expects to have in Anaheim in a season or two.

The Rangers crushed rookie Caden Dana in his second MLB start. He was ejected before the fourth out after Texas floored him with seven hits, including three home runs, in the first two innings.

“We got back in the game, had a chance in the seventh inning and there, got the tying run on base, but just couldn’t get a hit. And then we decided to start losing the baseball in the eighth inning and they put it away.

After trailing 5-0 after two innings, the Angels scored three runs in the fourth on a three-run homerun by Charles Leblanc, made it a one-run game when Matt Thaiss reached second base on a two-base error on a fly ball down the left-field line, and then scored on a groundout by Michael Stefanic.

The Angels defense burned them in the eighth, however, when the Rangers scored two uncalled runs on two errors with two outs. Leblanc’s fielding error at third base allowed Ezequiel Duran to reach before Travis Jankowski’s sharp single to right was missed by outfielder Jordyn Adams and rolled off the wall.

Yes, Washington likes teaching, but he would rather do it after winning.

“I want to win. We’ll take care of those things, but no, I want to win,” Washington said. “I don’t care how young they are. I expect to win the game. I want them to think the same way.”

There were seven rookies in Sunday’s game — four pitchers, including Dan, and three batters.

“I was throwing the right balls, but I wasn’t executing them well,” said Dana, who fell to 1-1. “I was leaving things in the middle. It happened too many times.”

The bright spot of Sunday’s match was the reserve team.

Ryan Zeferjahn replaced Dana with the bases loaded and no outs in the second inning and struck out Wyatt Langford before inducing a 5-3-3 double play to end the inning. Zeferjahn, Hans Crouse and Brock Burke combined to throw 5 ⅓ hitless innings in relief. Even Ryan Miller, who pitched the final 1 ⅔, allowed only two singles but was overcome by errors in the eighth inning.

“They did a hell of a job,” Washington said. “If we make a few plays behind Miller, we’ll be 5-4. My bullpen was great, especially after they scored five in the first two innings. We pecked and pecked and got back in the game, just couldn’t get a big hit, and then we couldn’t stop them in the eighth, not because of pitching, but because we just played a little bit poorly defensively.”

Dana said he had trouble finding his fastball, especially when throwing it downrange and sideways to right-handed hitters, and the Rangers didn’t seem to care.

“Every day was a learning experience for me, so I have one more week until the next start and I will be ready to compete,” he said.

The Angels, who have lost three of four games in Texas, will open a three-game series against the Twins on Monday in Minneapolis before returning to Anaheim to face the American League West-leading Houston Astros on Friday.

“Whenever you play Major League baseball, you go through an audition,” Washington said of his young team. “It’s also a learning experience. I want them to play baseball and understand the game. What they don’t understand, we’ll help them understand. You gain experience by being here, but you have to bring your skill set. You can’t just come in here and be blind.”

Washington said many young players in the game today don’t realize their abilities. His job, he says, is to make them aware of their tools.

“Once they can do that every day, the rest of the game will catch up,” he said. “But if you come in here and you can’t use your skills, you’re useless. That’s just the bottom line.”

“We’ll see what they can do the rest of the year. That doesn’t mean they’ll be stuck there next year as our guys, but we get a chance to see what they can do, what they can’t do, what they can do and what they can’t do,” Washington added. “That’s our job for the next two or three weeks.”