CHICAGO — Just when they was showing signs of life, the Angels went quiet again Sunday.
Los Angeles put together three hits in a rainy series finale at Wrigley Field, losing 5-0 for the third time in five days. After a Brandon Drury single in the first, Angels batters went three-up, three-down in six of the last eight innings.
“We just couldn’t get anything going,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “That’s the bottom line.”
After a 12-hit, seven-run afternoon the day before, the Angels looked like they might have rediscovered their groove in the batter’s box. But starter Hayden Wesneski (3-5) and the Cubs bullpen shut the door on the Angels' scoring opportunities, ending L.A.’s road trip with just one win in six games.
Like his last outing, Angels starter Jose Soriano cruised through the early innings but struggled as the game wore on. Soriano, who was not a pitch restriction in his second start since returning from the injured list, threw 73 pitches in five innings. He surrendered six hits, a walk and three runs.
“He was good for the first two, then he looked like he stressed,” Washington said. “Three, four and five were stressful innings. And then all the sudden he really started trying to overthrow the baseball, where he was smooth and under control in the first two.”
The Cubs scored two runs in the third on a Miguel Amaya single that bounced over the head of third baseman Luis Guillorme and a Nico Hoerner sacrifice fly. Soriano then dodged his way out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but his day was done after giving up a third run in the fifth.
The Angels put two runners on with one out in the seventh inning, but a Logan O’Hoppe groundout and a Zach Neto flyout quickly snuffed that chance. Michael Busch then smacked a two-out, two-run homer off Matt Moore in bottom half of the inning, putting the game away for good.
“We left home and it seems like we forgot what we were doing,” Washington said. “Yesterday we played a pretty good ballgame, and I thought we had (woken) up, but it didn’t happen.
"We started playing pretty good at home, so maybe we need to go home and get back on track.”
The Angels head back to Anaheim for a seven-game set before the all-star break. First up: a three-game series with the Texas Rangers, who are coming off a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Monday’s first pitch is set for 6:38 p.m., the first of 17 consecutive games against AL West opponents.
Anderson named an all-star
MLB announced Sunday that starter Tyler Anderson will represent the Angels in the All-Star Game. It’s the second career selection for the 34-year-old left-hander, who’s put in a solid body of work for the Angels this season.
Through 18 starts, Anderson’s 2.81 ERA ranks sixth in the American League and 10th among MLB starters. His 112.0 innings pitched are also fourth-most in the AL.
Anderson’s first all-star appearance came in 2022, when he was with the Dodgers. He’s the first Angels starting pitcher not named Shohei Ohtani to make an all-star team since Hector Santiago in 2015.
“It’s a cool honor,” Anderson said. “You get to go represent our team.
"There’s a lot of guys on this team that I think are really good players and deserving. But just to go represent the Angels in this game is an honor.”
The day before all-star rosters are finalized is never a bad time to put up your best start of the year. Anderson tossed eight scoreless innings and recorded 10 strikeouts in a 7-0 Angels win Saturday.
His consistency and reliability earned high praise from his manager, who called Anderson one of the team’s all-stars.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Washington said. “He’s been showing these young pitchers that we have how to deal with adversity, which is this game. This game is full of adversity.”
This season has been much kinder to Anderson than his 2023 campaign. He posted a 5.43 ERA in 25 starts last year and at one point was moved to the bullpen. Now in his second season with the Angels, the veteran is hitting his stride again.
“There’s nothing in this game I think that’s more motivating than poor performance,” Anderson said. “Just to kind of prove to yourself and other people that you can still be effective, it’s a good feeling.”
Rendon Update
Anthony Rendon’s return from the injured list is still expected to come when the Angels return home this week. The third baseman has missed 68 games since tearing his left hamstring April 20.
Before Sunday’s game, Washington said Rendon’s second day of live at-bats on Saturday were “a little better” than they were the day before. His timing is still slightly off, the manager said, but he’s seeing plenty of pitches.
Washington thinks Rendon will be more “locked in” when he’s able to fully rejoin the team and see real game action.
“I think he will be ready to go because he’ll be in a different environment,” Washington said. “And now he has to use his wisdom and his knowledge and his education of the game, and his knowledge of himself, to get things done. And I think he will do that.”
While the idea is for Rendon to return during the upcoming homestand, Washington said he doesn’t know if he’ll be activated Monday.
“If he’s ready to go, he’ll be in there tomorrow,” Washington said. “If he’s not ready to go, he’ll be in there the next day. So, we’ll get that figured out when we get back to Anaheim.”
When Rendon is activated, Washington said he plans to start him at third base to “get a feel for the whole game.” Then, he’ll give him a game at the DH spot.
“He’ll let me know (from there) when he’s ready to be out there on a daily basis.”