Angels' comeback falls short in series opener against Athletics

Starter Jose Soriano was not sharp in his return to the mound, while the Angels offense finally got going too late in a 7-5 loss to the Athletics on Tuesday at the Oakland Coliseum. 

Soriano (4-6) snapped a two-game winning streak and took his first loss since May 25. He exited after four innings of work and three hits allowed. The right-hander tossed 62 pitches (39 strikes) as he struck out four and walked one. 

The majority of the hitting for the Angels came from Nolan Schanuel, who finished 2 for 4 with a pair of late-inning hits. However, Los Angeles fell into a 7-1 deficit by the end of the sixth and did not have enough firepower to overcome it.

The only other player with an RBI was Luis Rengifo, who drove in Schanuel on a ninth-inning single. 

The Angels (36-48) are beginning to slide in the wrong direction. After a six-game win streak, they have now lost two in a row and are 2½ games behind the Texas Rangers for third place in the AL West.

Here are three takeaways:

Soriano returns from IL

Soriano, who had been sidelined since June 12, made his first start since. H was on the IL recovering from an abdominal infection. 

In his first piece of action back, he proved susceptible to the long-ball. The 25-year-old allowed two home runs in the fourth inning that sunk his start. 

He allowed all four of his hits in the inning after holding Oakland hitless through the first three innings. A solo home run from Brent Rooker and a two-run shot from Lawrence Butler helped give the Athletics the early lead.

Manager Ron Washington still had positive things to say about his starter, who looked sharp in the first three innings of the night. Prior to his IL stint, he allowed three earned runs in his last 14 innings.

The return is a big step for Soriano, who was held to a pitch count (60). Known for having the highest average fastball velocity in the majors (minimum 70 IP), he has the skill to make an impact once again. 

Schanuel sparks offense

Schanuel did what he could on Tuesday to try and lift the squad back into things out of the leadoff spot. Besides his two hits, he had four RBI and struck out once. 

He got the Angels on the board in the fifth with a sacrifice fly thatcut the Oakland lead to 4-1. Schanuel then added a two-run single in the seventh that scored Brandon Drury and Mickey Moniak.

His final hit was an RBI double that made it a 7-4 game. The four-RBI night for the 22-year-old helped him reach 30 in 276 at-bats this year.  He is now the fifth Angel this season to reach the mark so far. 

Despite hitting just .239, the rookie has seen an improvement in his numbers recently. He hit .258 in June, adding three homers, eight RBIs and twelve walks. His OBP for the month was .340. 

These numbers were significantly better than the month of May, when Schanuel posted an OBP of  .287 and hit .232. 

Spence stumps Angels

Athletics starter Mason Spence took his first victory since May 28 after going five starts without a win. Despite the Angels collecting their fair share of his against him, they could not break through.

Spence danced around six hits and conceded one earned run on Schanuel's sacrifice fly. Los Angeles went 0-3 against him with runners in scoring position, failing to capitalize on their prime scoring opportunities. 

The right-hander struck out five and walked one, displaying nice control as he tossed 94 pitches (54 strikes). By the time he was pulled with one out in the sixth, the Athletics had a three-run lead. 

The Angels have lost back-to-back games in which they have finished with more hits than their opponent. After out-hitting the Tigers 9-8 on Monday, they edged the Athletics 11-7 on Tuesday. 

Between the two games, Los Angeles has left 11 runners on base and gone 4 for 15 with runners in scoring position. 

 "We had some opportunities, we just didn't cash them in," Angels manager Ron Washington said. "They beat us...they beat us. They put seven runs on the board." 

The Angels and Athletics will meet for the second game of three at 6:40 p.m. Monda. Angels right-hander Davis Daniel (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second career start, facing Oakland right-hander Joey Estes (2-3, 5.24 ERA).