ARLINGTON, Texas — It has been a rough decade for the Angels.
The team, which last played in the postseason in 2014, clinched its ninth consecutive losing season with Thursday night’s 3-1 loss to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.
It’s the longest active streak of sub-.500 finishes in MLB and the longest in the franchise’s six-plus decades.
The Angels (58-82) last had a winning season in 2015, when they finished 85-77 and third in the American League West. Their last postseason appearance was the season before, when they won 98 games and were swept by the Kansas City Royals, 3-0, in an AL Division Series. It has been 16 seasons since they reached an ALCS and more than two decades since they last played in the World Series, when they won their only championship in 2002.
The Angels had seven consecutive sub-.500 finishes from 1971-1977.
Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz settled down after a rough first inning, which included four hits, including Adolis García’s three-run homer. Kochanowicz’s 0-and-1 sinker hung up in the zone and García launched it into the home bullpen in right-center field for his 22nd home run of the season following singles by Marcus Semien and Josh Smith.
Kochanowicz escaped more damage in the first with an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
“After that, he settled in,” said Ron Washington, the Angels’ fifth manager in the past seven seasons. “He didn’t have his best sinker tonight, but he grew tonight because he learned to battle without his best stuff. That’s what you have to do when things are not working the way you want them to work. So he was very impressive in the way he handled his innings.”
Kochanowicz held Texas scoreless on three hits (two infield hits), a walk and a hit batter over the next five innings and left after six innings with his team trailing 3-1. It’s his fifth consecutive quality start, the most consecutive quality starts by an Angels pitcher since Shohei Ohtani had six from July 6 through Aug. 18, 2021.
“The name of my game is just to stay down [in the zone], so once I made that adjustment, it was a lot different,” Kochanowicz said. “[The sinker to Garcia] found just too much plate. Very good hitter, obviously, a really quick bat, so too much plate.”
Washington was impressed with pitcher’s adjustments after the early homer.
“He grew tonight because he learned how to battle without his best stuff,” Washington said. “He was very impressive in the way he handled his innings.”
Rangers left-hander Cody Bradford held the Angels to a run on two hits and two walks over six innings and also recorded his fifth consecutive quality start.
The Angels’ run scored in the third inning when Nolan Schanuel beat out a double-play grounder, which allowed Taylor Ward to break from third base and beat the throw home. Bradford then retired the final 11 batters he faced.
“His fastball actually has a lot of life for what it says on the scoreboard,” said Ward, whose season-high 14-game hit streak was snapped after an 0-for-3 night. “He has a lot of ride, and it’s kind of deceptive. His changeup and slider look similar to his fastball. He’s a great pitcher. There are throwers and pitchers. I just think that he’s able to locate his stuff really well and tunnels well, and it’s hard to pick up.”
The Angels put on its first two runners in the seventh against José Leclerc. Charles Leblanc struck out, and Matt Thaiss pulled a sharp grounder down the first base line that Nathaniel Lowe turned into a double play with Leclerc barely getting to first base in time to cover for the third out.
The Angels turned to their bullpen in the seventh. Ryan Zeferjahn worked a perfect seventh and after a couple of two-out singles in the eighth, third baseman Leblanc made an inning-ending, over-the-shoulder sliding catch down the left-field line in foul territory.
Zach Neto had three of the Angels’ four hits, all singles.
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