CLEVELAND — Whether they’re playing the Indians or Guardians, the Angels don’t seem to enjoy their trips to Cleveland.
Ryan Tepera gave up a tie-breaking two-run homer to José Ramirez in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 5-3 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday.
The Angels were swept in the three-game series, dropping their record to 1-20 in their trips to Progressive Field since 2015. The lone victory – in 2018 – was sandwiched between 10-game losing streaks. The Angels have had four managers and the Guardians have had two names in that time.
This loss dropped the Angels to 61-82, ensuring their seventh consecutive losing season. No big league team has a longer active streak of losing seasons.
For much of the afternoon, the Angels seemed poised to at least delay their inevitable 82nd loss and snap their nine-game losing streak in Cleveland.
Mickey Moniak put the Angels on top with a two-run homer in the third. Moniak doubled and scored on a Mike Trout single in the fifth to increase the lead to 3-1.
The Angels still had a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning, but the Guardians tied it when Tyler Freeman doubled home a run against Jimmy Herget.
In the eighth, Tepera gave up a single to Amed Rosario and hung a slider that Ramirez blasted over the right-field fence.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings. He worked around seven hits because he didn’t walk anyone. It was the second time in his career that he’d pitched at least five innings without a walk.
Oscar Gonzalez hit a homer in the second. In the fifth, Sandoval gave up singles to the first two hitters of the inning, but the Angels turned a double play to hold the Guardians to one run in the inning.
Sandoval was pulled after he gave up a pair of one-out singles in the sixth. Herget entered and escaped when the Angels turned a double play, preserving the 3-2 lead.
