ANAHEIM ― Saturday was shaping into a game of redemption for Angels catcher Matt Thaiss.
One week after Thaiss drew two critical catcher’s interference calls in a loss in Boston, his two-run home run in the eighth inning pulled the Angels ahead of the Kansas City Royals in a seesaw battle ― and gave Thaiss his second hit of the season. His first came on a single in the third inning.
It all went for naught. The Royals rallied for five runs in the ninth inning against Angels pitcher Jose Quijada to pull away with an 11-8 win.
“Definitely not the circumstances we wanted but we’ll go back out there (Sunday),” Thaiss said. “It was a good step for me today at the plate.”
Thaiss was 0 for 12 coming into the game, and hitless in 22 at-bats to end spring training. His two-run home run against pitcher Jose Cuas came on the first pitch he saw, snapping a 6-6 tie to the delight of the announced crowd of 44,148 at Angel Stadium.
Trying to protect the 8-6 lead, Quijada allowed a single, double, two walks and hit a batter while recording only two outs in the ninth inning. It was the first save he has failed to convert this season in five attempts.
In a way, the calamity was a fitting end to a game of random mishaps.
The Royals ran off the field in the sixth inning when it appeared Zach Neto had made the final out on a popup to shortstop. However, a balk had been called against pitcher Carlos Hernandez just prior to the pitch, so umpires ordered both teams back on the field. The mid-inning “Dance Cam” ceased, Neto stepped back into the batter’s box, and promptly lined a game-tying single into right field.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Royals scored three runs when the Angels challenged a correct call and lost ― then could not challenge an incorrect call that would have ended the inning.
The challenge was prompted by an attempted pickoff play at first base. Left-hander Tyler Anderson believed umpire Shane Livensparger had gotten the call correct, “but you trust your video guys that they saw something that maybe you didn’t.”
Later in the inning, the Angels couldn’t challenge when first base umpire Shane Livensparger ruled MJ Melendez safe on a groundout, after it appeared Anderson beat him to the bag by a hair after receiving a relay throw. That would have been the third out of the inning.
Instead, Andrew Wantz replaced Anderson and allowed an infield single, then a ground ball that resulted in an error by first baseman Gio Urshela on the back end of an attempted double-play relay. Kansas City scored three runs in the inning to take a 6-4 lead.
The Angels (10-11) committed two errors in the game, and lost to a Kansas City team (5-16) that had lost seven in a row.
“Those things happen,” manager Phil Nevin said, “but in an 11-8 game you can point to so many things. Things we did, didn’t do. Things they did, didn’t do. I did, I didn’t do. Whatever. I’m not worried about how we’re playing, though. The defense has been really good lately. We didn’t pitch great tonight other than the middle relief guys. Wantz was phenomenal, shaped some of his pitches, nothing hit hard. (Matt) Moore, really solid innings. We got the ball in our closer’s hands with a 2-run lead. We’ll take that every night.”
In the ninth inning, Quijada hit Nicky Lopez with a pitch, then surrendered a deep fly ball to Kyle Isbel that was initially ruled a two-run home run over the yellow stripe in right field ― apparently tying the game at 8.
The Angels challenged the call. After a brief meeting, the umpires ruled that Isbel’s fly ball did not clear the yellow stripe, and ordered Isbel back to third base. With one out, Edward Olivares punched a single into shallow center field, scoring Isbel to officially tie the game.
The Royals were just warming up. With the bases loaded, Quijada hit Melendez with a pitch to force in a run, giving Kansas City a 9-8 lead.
Related Articles
Angels manager endorses closer-by-committee arrangement
Shohei Ohtani strikes out 11 as Angels shut out Royals
Angels’ Jared Walsh speaks of progress but no timetable for return
Logan O’Hoppe hurt in Angels’ loss to Yankees
Angels’ Zach Neto was ‘an easy selection’ in the 2022 draft
Hunter Dozier then drove in a pair of runs with a single against Austin Warren; both runs were charged to Quijada (0-1).
Hunter Renfroe went 3 for 4 with two home runs. Mike Trout went 2 for 5 with three RBIs, including his fourth home run of the season. Thaiss and Neto had two hits each..
Anderson (5 ⅓ innings, five earned runs) and Royals starter Zack Greinke (5 innings, four earned runs) were long gone by the time the back-and-forth game had been resolved. Anderson saw his ERA balloon to 7.20 but was encouraged by the efficiency of his outing.
“It sounds stupid to say, but I felt it was better than the last couple (starts),” he said. “For me, after the last couple, I had said I made a lot of poor pitches, threw a lot of balls and walked guys. Today seemed like a perfect storm where my goal was to attack the zone, throw a lot of strikes. You run into a team that had a lot of swings and misses last night against Shohei (Ohtani). They came out super aggressive, which is why you’re at 50 pitches through five innings after giving up a few runs.”