ANAHEIM — Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel both came steaming toward the plate, just about 30 feet apart, with Schanuel representing the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The ball arrived in between them, just in time to keep the Angels down by a run in a game they went on to lose, 5-3 against the Houston Astros on Saturday night.
The unusual play was one of the few moments when the Angels showed some offensive life, but it wasn’t enough.
Down 4-2, the Angels loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter with one out. Logan O’Hoppe then hit a blooper into center. Ward went back to third to tag up, and Schanuel was more than halfway to third when diving center fielder Jake Meyers had the ball squirt away from him.
Schanuel had to slow down because of Ward. Meyers got up quickly and threw the ball home, not in time to get Ward, but just in time to get Schanuel.
Manager Ron Washington said the Angels wanted to be aggressive sending Schanuel home, and he credited the Astros for making a play. He also said he thought that catcher Victor Caratini was in violation of the rule prohibiting catchers from blocking the plate. The Angels challenged, but the call was upheld on review.
“I thought he blocked the plate,” Washington said. “I don’t know what the rule is, blocking the plate, but Schanuel certainly didn’t have a direct route to it. That’s for sure.”
Mickey Moniak then grounded out, ending the threat.
By the time the Angels came up in the ninth, they were again down by two runs, because of Kyle Tucker’s homer against Guillo Zuñiga.
The Angels (60-88) lost their fourth straight game and sixth in the last seven, as they limp toward the finish line with a chance to break the franchise record of 95 losses.
The problem lately has mostly been a lack of offense with a patchwork lineup.
On Saturday, the Angels had only four of their Opening Day starters in the lineup. Four other players had been in the minors.
The Angels weren’t able to take advantage of Justin Verlander, who is clearly in the final stages of a career that will land him in the Hall of Fame.
Verlander, 41, has been on the injured list for most of the season, and he came into this game with a 9.68 ERA in his four starts since his most recent injured list stint. The Angels scored twice in five innings against him.
“I wouldn’t say we let him off the hook, but a veteran like that, when he’s not doing what he wants to do out there, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Washington said. “We didn’t take advantage of it.”
The first three Angels reached base against him in the first inning, scoring a run on a Schanuel single. The Angels’ only other run came in the fourth inning on an RBI double from Eric Wagaman.
Wagaman now has a story for life about getting his first big league hit against one of the greatest pitchers of his generation. What’s more, the Orange County product did it in front of dozens of friends and family members at the ballpark he attended as a kid.
“Definitely extra special,” Wagaman said of getting the hit off Verlander. “The guy is a sure Hall of Famer. The stuff he’s done in this game is incredible. It seems like year after year he just gets it done. It’s very special.”
With the current state of the Angels offense, they needed a better outing from starter Tyler Anderson, who gave up four runs in five innings.
Anderson had a 2.99 ERA on Aug. 8, but in his last six starts he has a 6.46 ERA. Before the game, manager Ron Washington suggested that the 34-year-old Anderson might be running out of gas.
“It wasn’t the T.A. that we’ve been seeing, and it happens when you get to this point in the season,” Washington said. “But with his mentality, you learn how to get through it. And that’s one thing we want our young kids to learn, how to get through it.”
Anderson gave up one run in the first four innings, but then he allowed three in the fifth. Two of them came on slugger Yordan Alvarez’s 432-foot homer.
Anderson said he was trying to go up and in on the pitch to Alvarez and he didn’t get it there.
“I felt OK, and just didn’t take advantage of it,” Anderson said. “I did some stupid things. Sometimes you do smart things and sometimes you do stupid things.”
