CINCINNATI _ Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval, once a star at Mission Viejo High, pitched well enough Monday at Great American Ball Park in his first major league appearance to merit a positive result. He struck out eight and limited a streaking Cincinnati Reds team to two runs on three hits. He overcame a shaky debut inning, during which he seemed so overcome with adrenaline that his usual 92-94 mph fastball touched 96, to make it through five-plus innings without much damage.
But the Angels were unable to shake off an early deficit on their way to a 7-4 loss. It was their fifth loss in a row and ninth in 11 games.
For the second time in four games, the Angels watched their usually reliable opener strategy go up in flames. Taylor Cole (1-3) allowed six of the first seven batters he faced in the first inning to reach base. Five runs scored. Things went so poorly for the Angels that even Mike Trout wasn't immune; he failed to catch a routine fly ball in center field, extending Cole's miserable outing a few minutes longer.
If not for such a calamitous beginning, Sandoval might have had a chance to leave his debut with a fonder memory. However, the futility of the Angels' offense eliminated any possibility of a comeback.
Reds right-hander Luis Castillo, one of the most effective starters in baseball this season, picked apart the Angels. His high-90s fastball received 12 strike calls. His biting changeup induced an absurd 18 swings and misses.
Castillo (11-4) struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings, underscoring a bigger problem for the Angels. They struck out nearly 24% of the time while going 1-5 last week, the 10th-highest rate in that span. All year, the Angels boasted of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball.
Limited to five hits _ Trout's 37th homer, Luis Rengifo's fourth and Brian Goodwin's 10th accounted for the damage _ the Angels (56-58) fell to two games below .500 for the first time since they were 38-40 on June 22.
