Angels struggle at the plate and on the mound in loss to Royals

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on Apr 25, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At times in the first month of this season, the Los Angeles Angels have given hints with their pitching and hitting that maybe they could defy the experts and be competitive this season.

A game like Saturday night’s 12-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals provided more fodder for anyone who says these are the same Angels who have not had a winning season in a decade.

Just about everything that could go wrong did, with starter Walbert Ureña giving up four runs and the deficit eventually getting so deep that infielder Adam Frazier finished on the mound for the Angels. The hitters struck out 14 times without drawing a walk.

The Angels made three errors, including two on one play by shortstop Zach Neto.

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe also hurt his left wrist on a foul ball.

The Angels (12-16) have lost six of their last seven games, scoring just 17 runs in those games. They scored seven runs in their lone victory and 10 in the six losses.

The offensive explosions they enjoyed on their last trip through Cincinnati and New York seem like a distant memory. The bats went cold when they got home, and they stayed cold on the first two games of this trip.

Royals left-hander Cole Ragans handled them on Saturday night. Ragans had not pitched up to expectations so far this season, but against the Angels, he looked more like the All-Star he was a couple of years ago.

Jo Adell’s homer in the fourth was the only run the Angels scored against him in six innings. Ragans struck out 11 and got 25 whiffs, the most for any pitcher in the majors this season.

Essentially, the Angels’ entire lineup is in a slump, starting with the top.

Neto, the leadoff hitter, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He has hit .184 with a .578 OPS in his last 13 games.

Mike Trout, who had a single, has hit .200 since leaving Yankee Stadium, where he hit five homers in a four-game series and sparked a national narrative about whether he was “back.”

For what it’s worth, Trout and Neto have continued to draw walks throughout their current slumps. The hitters behind them — usually Nolan Schanuel or Adell — haven’t done much with those opportunities.

Schanuel, who was hitting seventh because Ragans is a lefty, had a chance to get the Angels on the board first, with one out and runners at second and third in the second inning. He struck out. Logan O’Hoppe then also struck out.

By the time the Angels got their next hit, they were down by four runs because of a sloppy start from Ureña.

Ureña wasn’t nearly as effective in his second big league start as he was the first time, when he gave up two runs in six innings.

Ureña gave up four runs on six hits and five walks. He only walked two in his first game, none until his final inning.

Ureña gave up a homer to Salvador Perez in the second, followed by another run on a walk and two singles. In the third, Ureña gave up a leadoff double to Bobby Witt Jr. and then three more walks and a single. One of the walks came with the bases loaded, pushing home the fourth run.

The game got away from the Angels in the sixth and seventh. An error by third baseman Oswald Peraza opened the door for Chase Silseth to give up a run on a bases-loaded walk. In the seventh, Shaun Anderson gave up three runs. That inning included Neto misplaying a potential double play ball and then making a bad throw.

O’Hoppe was hurt during the seventh, although he stayed in the game to finish the inning.

Right-hander Jordan Romano came in to mop up in the eighth. Two more runs scored before Frazier came in to pitch, and he allowed two more runs to be added to Romano’s line.

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