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Hours after Joe Maddon was relieved of his managerial duties, the Los Angeles saw their losing streak stretch to 13 games with a 6-5 home loss to the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings. This marks the longest single-season losing streak in franchise history. Compounding the Angels’ plight is that superstar outfielder Mike Trout was forced to leave the game with what was later revealed to be a left groin tightness. He is day by day.
“Mike is fine. He’s feeling a bit of pain in his groin today, but definitely better than last night. He will stay indoors today and do many treatments. And we’ll kind of see Where does this take us after game time today? said the head athletic coach Mike Frostad Orange country register On Wednesday. “(The level of concern is) very high. I mean he’s not worried about that. He’s very optimistic. He moves pretty well. And he was really in a great mood.”
Tuesday night’s game marked Phil Nevin’s coaching debut, replacing Maddon on an interim basis. For a time it looked like Nevin was going to win as the Angels hit two runs up top of the first and also led into the sixth inning on a 5-3 count. However, the LA bullpen proved unable to defend that latter lead.
Boston tied the game late thanks to RBI singles in sixth and seventh place. In the 10th, Christian Vazquez drove Boston’s automatic runner with an out for a one-run lead. In the home half, Angels pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki appeared to pull off a game-defining single on a ground ball down center with two outs, but shortstop Enrique Hernandez, who started the game in midfield for the Red Sox, made an impressive ranging game to to reach the final on first base. The result means the Angels are now their worst three games of the season under .500, while the Red Sox are now their best two games of the season over .500.
As for Trout, he sustained the injury while putting out a double in the third inning. He appeared to change gait as he neared first base, and after the next batter flew out, he left the game along with the team coach and Nevin. Trout will likely undergo further testing and examination to determine the severity of the injury.
The injury comes just as Trout appeared to be coming out of a recent slump. He finished a 0-for-26 sled at the plate on Monday and earlier Tuesday night he hit a homer for the first time since May 28. On the season, Trout is batting .284/.388/ despite those recent struggles. 601 with 14 homers and 14 doubles. Injuries have been a constant concern for Trout in recent seasons. Only once since 2016 has he managed to play 140 or more games in a season despite being generally healthy during the much-shortened 2020 season. Last year, Trout was limited to just 36 games due to a serious calf strain.
With Anthony Rendon and Taylor Ward already on the injured list, the struggling Angels can hardly afford to lose Trout for any length of time.
The Angels will play Boston again on Wednesday, again trying to end their losing streak and claim their first win since May 24.