Christopher Sanchez shuts down the Angels in extra-inning loss for Los Angeles

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Los Angeles Angels came into Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies facing off against Christian Sanchez, the fourth-best pitcher in the National League by ERA, and considering the Angels are in the midst of a team-wide hitting slump with a MLB-worst .600 OPS in the month of August, things weren't going to be easy on paper.

They weren't easy on the field either. Sanchez carved through the Angels lineup through seven scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and one walk and striking out eight. 

He [Sanchez] was dotting all his pitches... He's not top three for Cy Young for [no] reason," Zach Neto said. "He's really freaking good and he had all his pitches working today. We put up some pretty good at-bats off him, but we weren't able to capitalize."

Sanchez's counterpart on the Angels' side of the mound, Ryan Johnson, has been having a career month of August himself, but command issues in the first two innings led to a single Phillies run that, while the only run that Johnson allowed in his five innings of work, was more than enough run support for the way that Sanchez was pitching. 

Johnson's adjustments

Johnson allowed five walks and two hits on Saturday, but both of those hits and four of those five walks came in the first two innings, ultimately translating into a RBI single by former-Angel Brandon Marsh to put the Phillies ahead 1-0. 

Johnson chalked up his early inning issues to his body being out of synch on his delivery, but he settled down soon enough and made the adjustments he needed.

"You don't want to have to do that [make adjustments mid-game], but to be able to do it... it's just a part of the game, so got to be able to do it at times," Johnson said.

Marsh's RBI single was the only run that either side put on the board for most of the game, and it could have been the only run either side put on the board at all if it weren't for Neto in the bottom of the eighth inning. 

Neto Ties Things Up

Neto has made some serious adjustments over the past few weeks to overcome a funk that had plagued him for most of the season and when he stepped up against Phillies reliever Jonathan Bowlan, he worked a 12-pitch at-bat that ended with his 23rd home run of the year to tie the game 1-1. 

"It was awesome," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. "I think we've all seen what he's been doing the last few weeks and really coming into his own and making adjustments."

Before Neto's game-tying blast, the game was in the hands of one of the Angels' newest relievers, Trevor Martin, in the top of the eighth. 

Martin was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays earlier in the month and made his Angels debut on Saturday, but he had a daunting first task ahead of him with Trea Turner and Bryce Harper stepping up to the plate. 

Both reached base with a single from Turner, who stole second base right after, and a walk from Harper. 

The Angels caught a break after Turner was picked off trying to steal third, but a wild pitch from Martin right after allowed Harper to advance all the way from first to third anyways.

Bold baserunning from Harper

What Harper did next was shocking.

Never one to shy away from a thrill, Harper attempted a straight steal of home with two outs.

 At first it looked he got it, but the Angels challenged the safe call and even if the lengthy review made Suzuki sweat, his confidence paid off and the call was overturned to end the inning.

"I got a little nervous on the length of the review, for sure, but when I was watching the replay you could see dirt between the plate and Travis' [d'Arnaud] shinguard. We just thought there's no way his [Harper's] hand could have gotten under."

Martin came back out for the ninth inning and things went much smoother there, but after the game entered extras, Martin came out for the third straight inning. 

Martin can't go the distance cleanly

He was picked up by the Angels to be a multi-inning reliever in the best of circumstances, but with the Angels only having seven total relievers at their disposal, running Martin out for the 10th was more than just convenient, it was crucial. 

Things didn't go his way this time. After getting the designated runner out on a fielder's choice, a single from Justin Crawford and a bloop double from Kyle Schwarber drove in J.T. Realmuto to put the Phillies ahead again 2-1. 

With the infield pulled in, Turner knocked a soft ground ball past Vaughn Grissom at first to drive in two more runs and after a one-run 10th from the Angels, that was enough to take the game 4-2.

It was the Angels' sixth-straight loss and in each of those six, the Angels had dropped the game by two runs or less. 

“We’ve been fighting all year and it’s just not going our way right now. But we’re not going to cry about it, moan about it. We’re going to flip the switch at midnight and come in tomorrow and try to avoid a sweep," Neto said.