Angels drop series as pitching woes drag on

ANAHEIM -- The Angels were forced to use a spot starter for a second straight game after Thursday’s 16-inning marathon, and it again resulted in another tough loss to the last-place Orioles.

Left-hander Dillon Peters, recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, gave up five runs over four innings, while the usually solid Ty Buttrey allowed two runs in the eighth in an 8-7 defeat on Saturday night at Angel Stadium. It was the third straight loss for the Angels, who fell to five games behind the A’s and Red Sox for the second American League Wild Card spot.

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"At this point, the way the pitching staff is, we needed some innings," Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. "He got us through four, got us to [Trevor] Cahill and Trev did a nice job. He kept the game kind of where it was. He gave up the solo homer but kept the game close. They got to Butt today and we couldn’t quite come all the way back."

Peters only gets through four

Peters, who was eligible to be called up with Noe Ramirez placed on the 10-day injured list with a respiratory illness, couldn’t replicate his success from Sunday, when he threw five scoreless innings against the Mariners in a win. This time, Peters gave up too much hard contact, scuffling early in the game.

"Just a couple pitches that should've been executed that got in the hitter's zone,” Peters said. “They capitalized on me missing on pitches that I can execute."

The left-hander gave up two runs in the first on a two-out, two-run single from Pedro Severino after singles from Hanser Alberto and Renato Nunez.

It unraveled in the third after rookie third baseman Matt Thaiss couldn’t handle a hard-hit grounder from Nunez with two outs. It sparked a three-run rally for the Orioles, keyed by an RBI double from Anthony Santander and a two-run homer from Severino.

“I've got to do a better job of slowing the game down, and just getting back to repeating pitches and doing what I did to get to two outs in that inning,” Peters said. “That was all me on pitch execution and just even two-strike balls over the plate."

With Peters only going four innings on 72 pitches, the Angels turned to Cahill, who went three frames. Cahill, however, served up a go-ahead solo homer to trade candidate Jonathan Villar in the sixth.

Buttrey’s slide continues

The Angels turned to the usually reliable Buttrey for the eighth, but he’s had trouble replicating his success from earlier in the season. Buttrey, who entered Saturday with a 2.77 ERA, has still been the club's most consistent reliever, but he had issues with his command yet again. He gave up a leadoff single to Villar before he plunked Stevie Wilkerson on the ninth pitch of his at-bat on a 99-mph fastball.

After both runners moved over on a Richie Martin comebacker to Buttrey with the runners in motion, Buttrey surrendered a go-ahead, two-run single to Alberto on an 0-1 slider over the plate.

“I think I wasn’t executing my fastball,” Buttrey said .”A couple of those pitches were supposed to be up in the zone. Right over the heart of the plate. Didn’t execute my slider. That just happens. You face good hitters and they’re gonna capitalize on the missed pitches. Just gotta figure it out.”

Buttrey was removed after recording one just out, while Jose Rodriguez escaped the jam by inducing a double play in his Major League debut. But the damage was done, causing Buttrey's ERA to rise to 6.10 in 10 appearances in July. Buttrey had a 1.29 ERA in March/April and a 1.26 ERA in May, but he has a 5.66 ERA in 22 appearances since June 1.

“There’s things I know I need to do,” Buttrey said. “It’s a feeling, it’s a rhythm, and I gotta get back to that and right now that’s not happening.”

Ausmus said he’ll continue to keep going to Buttrey, and that the Orioles seemed to know what was coming when he threw his slider both on Thursday, when he gave up two runs in an inning, and again on Saturday.

“I’m not concerned,” Ausmus said. “We’ve used him a lot. But the velocity was good. I watch the stuff. I’m not really overly concerned about it. I will say Baltimore seemed to have a good look at him.”

Late rally falls short

The Angels remained in the game thanks to a four-hit game from David Fletcher and homers from Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols. They entered the ninth inning down by two runs and rallied against Orioles right-hander Mychal Givens.

Fletcher came through with an RBI single to left, putting runners at the corners with one out for Trout. Trout, though, struck out on an 0-2 fastball with Fletcher stealing second on the pitch. Ohtani was intentionally walked to load the bases for Justin Upton, who popped out to second to end the game.

"I really felt like we were going to get that one," Ausmus said. "But obviously not."