The Los Angeles Angels started their home stand on an unfortunate note, dropping a series to the Seattle Mariners. On Monday, they kicked off a three-game series against another struggling team in the Cleveland Indians and the end result was their third straight loss, this time by a final score of 6-2.
In the top of the third inning, Jason Donald and Asdrubal Cabrera hit RBI singles to give the Indians a quick 2-0 lead. Brent Lillibridge added a solo home run in the fourth inning off of starter C.J. Wilson to make it 3-0.
The Halos were unable to get any runs across until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Albert Pujols hit his 25th home run of the year to cut the Cleveland lead to 3-2.
Unfortunately, the Indians got right back into it in the top of the ninth, as Hisanori Takahashi gave up three straight singles to lead off the inning and Jason Isringhausen walked in a run on five pitches. Jason Kipnis then followed up with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored a run and made it 5-2. With two outs, Isringhausen threw a wild pitch that allowed Casey Kotchman to score a final Cleveland run.
Los Angeles opened up the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back hits, but Erick Aybar and Chris Iannetta struck out and it was left up to Mike Trout, who had been 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Trout struck out on a check-swing to end the game.
To make matters worse, the Texas Rangers lost on Monday and the Oakland Athletics did not play, so the Halos were unable to gain any ground in the American League West. The Angels will try to bounce back and snap their current skid on Tuesday as they try to even up the series.
For all news and information regarding the Los Angeles Angels, please visit Halos Heaven. For updates and perspective on the Cleveland Indians, check out Let's Go Tribe or head on over to SB Nation Cleveland. You can also check out everything we have to offer at Baseball Nation.
