CLEVELAND (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels haven’t lost this many in a row in this millennium.
Andrelton Simmons had Los Angeles’ only hit, and the Angels lost to the Cleveland Indians 5-1 on Saturday night to drop their ninth straight.
The Angels’ skid is their longest since they dropped 11 in a row from July 16-26, 1999. They also fell to 0-8 on their nine-game trip and were one-hit for the first time since last Aug. 26 at Detroit.
With two outs in the sixth, Simmons smacked a grounder in the hole that was just beyond the grasp of shortstop Francisco Lindor to break up a no-hitter.
Right-hander Clevinger (1-1) exited after Simmons’ single and earned his first major league win. He was drafted by the Angels in 2011 and traded to Cleveland three years later in exchange for reliever Vinnie Pestano.
“We hit a couple of balls hard, but when we did square it up, we either hit it right at guys or they made unbelievable defensive plays,” Simmons said. “Clevinger was pretty tough — he made some good pitches — so there is only so much you can do on a night like this.”
Los Angeles’ other highlight came in the second, when Simmons scored on a sharp grounder to third by Johnny Giavotella. The Angels have been outscored 32-8 in the first three games of the series.
“We hit the ball harder than our linescore shows and we took six walks tonight, but Clevinger had good stuff,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “I thought our approach at the plate was good for the most part all the way through.”
Los Angeles starter Matt Shoemaker (6-13) allowed five runs and a season-high 12 hits in six innings. The right-hander, who entered with an 18-inning scoreless streak against the Indians, gave up three runs after retiring the first two batters in the opening frame.
“I thought our pitches were executed well, except for those hits in the first to (Jose) Ramirez and (Lonnie) Chisenhall that hurt,” said Shoemaker, who is 1-4 in his last five starts.
“A ton of their ground balls found holes today and they hit some line drives that are outs a lot of times. You could say my frustration level is very high right now.”
Angels catcher Jett Bandy threw out 2 of 3 attempted basestealers. One night earlier, Cleveland tied its franchise record with eight stolen bases off catcher Geovany Soto.
The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 11 minutes by rain.
STAR SWAP
Angels DH Albert Pujols, who is 3 for 21 (.143) over the last seven games, was given the evening off. Scioscia said he wanted to keep CF Mike Trout in the lineup, but not have him play the field. Trout went 0 for 2 with two walks and a steal as the designated hitter.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: OF Shane Robinson (right hip strain) was placed on the 15-day disabled list. OF Nick Buss had his contact selected from Triple-A Salt Lake and was in the lineup.
Indians: DH Carlos Santana (head contusion) has been medically cleared and likely will play Sunday. He was struck by a foul ball while standing in the dugout Thursday.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Jered Weaver is 7-2 with a 2.99 ERA in 12 games at Progressive Field, averaging 6.5 innings per start.
Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his last outing, a 3-1 victory at Washington on Aug. 9.
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