Kikuchi Struggles, Offense Goes Cold Again. On to Angel Stadium.
Wednesday at Wrigley was more of the same frustration. Yusei Kikuchi couldn't get through the fifth inning cleanly, the offense managed just four hits against Matthew Boyd, and the Angels dropped the series finale to the Cubs 6-2. They split the three-game set and head home 3-4 on the young season.
Kikuchi has now had two rough outings in his first three starts. Five and a third innings, six hits, four walks, and five earned runs Wednesday. The walks are the problem. When you're issuing four free passes and falling behind in counts, hitters get comfortable and lineups start to do damage. The Cubs did exactly that, putting up a five-spot in the third inning that essentially ended the game before noon local time.
Matthew Boyd was terrific on the other side — ten strikeouts over five and two-thirds innings with just two earned runs. The Angels simply had no answer for him. Four hits total, a .129 batting average on the night, and just one RBI. The lineup that was lighting up Houston for nine and ten runs a game has gone quiet over the last few days. Trout went hitless. Soler went hitless. The middle of the order was ice cold.
The one silver lining was Brent Suter out of the bullpen, who tossed two clean innings and struck out four. That's the kind of performance that keeps the bullpen's confidence high even when the starters are struggling.
Here's the bigger picture though. This road trip was always going to be tough. Opening the season in Houston, then heading straight to Wrigley Field in cold early April weather — that's not an easy schedule. The Angels went 3-4 on that stretch, and while it's not what anyone wanted, it's not a disaster either. They won their first two games of the season. They showed the offense can be explosive. Soriano has been an absolute ace. The bullpen has been mostly reliable.
The concern is Kikuchi. Two bad starts in three outings with too many walks is a trend that needs correcting quickly. And the rotation behind Soriano needs to find some consistency. The good news is the Angels are coming home. Angel Stadium, their fans, the home opener — that energy matters. The Seattle Mariners are coming to town this weekend and this is a chance to get right.
3-4 isn't where anyone wanted to be after the first week. But this team has shown flashes of what it can be. The home stand starts now and that's where things start to turn around.
Let's go home.
