The Los Angeles Angels were routed and swept, 11-2, by the Baltimore Orioles on Father's Day at Camden Yards as Yusei Kikuchi's recent hot streak was upended. The Angels are now 33-37 and have fallen back into fourth in the AL West standings.
Kikuchi, who had pitched to a 2.29 ERA over his last 11 starts heading into Sunday, did not have his usual composure as he looked to help Los Angeles avoid the sweep. He was immediately greeted by a two-run homer from Ramon Urias in the bottom of the first after Jordan Westburg reached base on an error at third by Kevin Newman.
Later on in the sixth, with the Angels down 3-2, the left-hander gave Baltimore extra life with two outs. He attempted to field a Cedric Mullins bunt, sailing the throw down the right field line as Gary Sanchez came all the way around from first to score. The next batter, Coby Mayo, slapped an RBI double to left as the Orioles added on yet again and made it 5-2 to knock Kikuchi out of the game.
BUNT pic.twitter.com/QI9pTc2ggb
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) June 15, 2025
He exited with seven hits and five runs allowed (three earned) despite striking out a season-high ten batters. Now 2-6 with a 3.05 ERA, the 33-year-old has struggled to find himself in the win column in spite of his recent surge. Kikuchi entered Sunday with a 1.97 ERA since May 1, ranking third in the American League behind only Tarik Skubal (1.78 ERA) and Jacob deGrom (1.82 ERA).
Out of the bullpen, Connor Brogdon also saw his impressive pitching run take a pause as Baltimore tagged him for four runs in the seventh on a grand slam from Gary Sanchez. Brogdon had not allowed a run in 10 of his last 11 outings prior, including 2/3 innings of scoreless work in the series opener on Friday.
Sanchez, who appeared in his first game since April 27 in Saturday's contest, blasted a home run for the second consecutive day after having none all season prior to the series. It was the sixth grand slam of the catcher's career.
Kenley Jansen got the Angels through the final inning of the day, allowing Jordan Westburg to make it 11-2 on a two-run shot in the process, the third home run of the day for the Orioles. Kikuchi, Brogdon and Jansen all proved susceptible to the long ball on Sunday as it accounted for eight Baltimore runs.
The only runs of the day for Los Angeles came in the early innings, including a solo home run from Nolan Schanuel as the second batter of the day to get the squad out to an early lead. It was only his fourth of the season.
Schana-how about that! pic.twitter.com/0cIcO8kRok
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) June 15, 2025
In the third, the Angels struck with their second run as Zach Neto came around to cross the plate on a wild pitch from Cade Povich with Mike Trout at the dish. Trout was one of five starters without a hit, finishing 0-4 as he struck out twice.
Los Angeles got their best chance to add on some runs in the seventh after Povich loaded the bases with one out on a walk and a pair of singles. However, Seranthony Dominguez came in from the bullpen to extinguish the fire, striking out both Jo Adell and LaMonte Wade Jr.
With the sweep, the Orioles took the season series from the Angels for a fourth consecutive season, winning five of six games in 2025. It was the first time since Aug. 2010 that Los Angeles had been swept in three games at Camden Yards.
The Halos will head to the Bronx on Monday afternoon as they begin a four-game set with the Yankees, looking to turn their momentum around and ease the damage of what has been an 0-3 road trip so far. They will battle a New York squad that is also struggling after dropping three straight at Fenway Park against the Red Sox this weekend.
Right-hander José Soriano (4-5, 3.86 ERA) will take the bump in his 15th start of the year for Los Angeles against New York right-hander Clarke Schmidt (3-3, 3.60 ERA).
First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. PT.