The longest losing streak in Los Angeles Angels history has reached 14 games. Wednesday night the Angels were shut out by the Boston Red Sox (BOS 1, LAA 0) to extend a losing streak that threatens to sabotage the team's season even with 104 games still to play. Wednesday was their third straight one-run loss and their second 1-0 loss in the last three games. The Angels are 27-31.
Mike Trout exited Tuesday's game with a groin injury and he did not play Wednesday, though the good news is the injury is minor, and he is day-to-day. That said, Trout's absence took away from a lineup that is already without Anthony Rendon, who is sidelined with a wrist issue. Wednesday was the eighth time during the losing streak the Halos scored two runs or fewer.
The Angels resorted to desperate -- very desperate -- measures to end the losing streak. Every Angels batter used a Nickelback song as their walkup music Wednesday. How you explain to the world you thought this would end the losing streak, I do not know, but that's not my problem. Here's the setlist:
If I didn't know any better, I'd say every batter using Nickelback as their walkup song was a Joe Maddon gimmick, but Maddon was relieved of his managerial duties Tuesday. Baseball players are a superstitious group, and had the Angels won Wednesday to end the losing streak, you can bet they would've used Nickelback again Thursday. Perhaps it's best they lost then.
Anyway, the 14-game losing streak is the longest in baseball this season and the longest in baseball since the Baltimore Orioles had a 19-game losing streak last August. The Angels are the ninth team with a losing streak of at least 14 games this century. Here are the longest single-season losing streaks in franchise history:
May 25, 2022 to present: 14 games and countingSept. 19 to Oct. 2, 1988: 12 games*Aug. 4-15, 2016: 11 gamesJuly 16-26, 1999: 11 gamesJune 28 to July 9, 1992: 11 gamesJune 30 to July 10, 1974: 11 games* The Angels lost their final 12 games in 1988 and their first game in 1989 for a 13-game losing streak spanning two seasons.
The Angels have lost every kind of game during the losing streak. They've been blown out, lost close games, lost wild back-and-forth barnburners, let late leads slip away, you name it. Despite losing six of the 14 games by no more than two runs, the Halos have been outscored 85-40 during the losing streak, or more than three runs per game.
It feels like a lifetime ago now, but the Angels started the season 21-11, and they were poised to return to the postseason for the first time since 2014. They are now 6-20 since that 21-11 start, and they've fallen out of wild card position. FanGraphs puts the club's postseason odds at 27.0 percent. They were 81.4 percent as recently as May 15.
The upcoming schedule is as tough as it gets for the Angels. They'll try to snap the losing streak in the finale of this four-game set with the Red Sox on Thursday. After that they'll welcome the New York Mets to town for a three-game weekend series, then head north up the 5 for a two-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
