Anaheim, Calif. — Third straight loss to a struggling team with a sub-.500 record. Another stretch of impotent offense. And another stellar performance by a starting pitcher blown up in one meltdown inning.
“It’s frustrating,” catcher James McCann said in the aftermath of a dispiriting, 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels Monday night. “Regardless of what you’ve gone through this year. When you have a guy pitch like he did and as an offense you can’t muster anything for him — yeah, it’s frustrating.”
Justin Verlander and Angels starter Jhoulys Chacin were locked into an unrelenti
ng pitchers’ duel — both piling up feeble swings and weak contact and putting zeros on the board through seven innings.