Angels starting pitcher Packy Naughton throws to the plate during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani prepares for his first at-bat during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Astros starting pitcher Jose Urquidy throws to the plate during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani prepares for his first at-bat during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani grounds out during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Angels starting pitcher Packy Naughton throws to the plate during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Astros’ Kyle Tucker follows through on his two-run home run during the second inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Astros’ Kyle Tucker, right, celebrates his two-run home run with Carlos Correa during the second inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Astros’ Kyle Tucker is congratulated after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Astros’ Aledmys Diaz connects for a solo home run during the second inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Astros starting pitcher Jose Urquidy throws to the plate during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Angels starting pitcher Packy Naughton throws to the plate during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Astros’ Jose Altuve connects for a two-run home run during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Astros’ Jose Altuve connects for a two-run home run during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Astros’ Jose Altuve, right, celebrates his two-run home run with Yuli Gurriel during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Astros’ Jose Altuve gets a pat on his helmet after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Astros’ Aledmys Diaz singles to drive in two runs during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez scores past Angels catcher Max Stassi on a single by Aledmys Diaz during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Astros center fielder Jake Meyers makes a leaping catch on a fly ball hit by the Angels’ Kean Wong during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani follows through on a single during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani is met by teammate Mike Trout, center, and bench coach Mike Gallego, right, as he returns to the dugout during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr. watches from the dugout during Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Phil Gosselin connects for a three-run home run during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Phil Gosselin connects for a three-run home run during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Astros center fielder Jake Meyers leaps at the wall but can’t come up with a ball hit for a three-run home run hit by the Angels’ Phil Gosselin during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Phil Gosselin drops the bat after connecting for a three-run home run during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Justin Upton, left, Mike Trout, center, and Dexter Fowler laugh in the dugout during Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Justin Upton, left, Mike Trout, center, and Dexter Fowler laugh in the dugout during Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr., left, removes starting pitcher Jose Urquidy, right, during the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Astros left fielder Chas McCormick makes a catch on a line drive hit by the Angels’ Kean Wong during the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani watches the flight of his 45th home run of the season during the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani follows through on his solo home run — his 45th of the season — during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run — his 45th of the season — during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
The Astros’ Jose Altuve, left, and Carlos Correa hug after a victory over the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
From left, the Astros’ Carlos Correa, Jose Siri (26) and Chas McCormick (20) celebrate after a 10-5 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Brandon Marsh looks on from the dugout before Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Angels’ Luis Rengifo, left, jokes with teammate Jared Walsh before Tuesday’s game against the Astros at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
ANAHEIM — The Angels are limping to the finish line.
Although they had perhaps overachieved for much of the second half by flirting with .500 despite a skeleton roster, the Angels’ 10-5 loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night was their fifth in a row.
The Angels scored all of their runs on three home runs, including the 45th homer of the season for Shohei Ohtani, who had not hit one since Sept. 10. Ohtani’s eighth-inning blast pulled him within one of Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kansas City’s Salvador Perez, who are tied for the major league lead with 46.
Ohtani’s homer traveled 445 feet, landing well up into the seats beyond the right field fence.
“Chop that up a little bit he might get two or three out of that,” Manager Joe Maddon said. “That was crushed. He’s fine. He’s in position to finish very strong at the plate and on the mound. That ball was properly struck.”
Although Ohtani has slumped lately and there has been discussion that Guerrero might challenge him for the American League MVP award, Maddon reiterated his opinion that the race is over.
“I think everyone is in second, third, fourth and fifth,” Maddon said.
The MVP discussion is about all that’s left for the Angels (72-79), who are now seven games under .500 for the first time since May 28, which was so long ago that Mike Trout had not even yet missed two weeks.
After three consecutive tight losses to the Oakland A’s over the weekend, the Angels have been outscored 20-5 in the first two games of this four-game series against the AL West-leading Astros.
Their latest defeat induced poor performances by the first three pitchers who took the mound, each of whom had shown some encouraging signs in previous games.
Starter Packy Naughton carried a 4.32 ERA into the game, and he’d had thrown five scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres earlier this month.
The Astros tagged him for three runs in the second on back-to-back homers by Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Diaz. He tacked on a couple more scoreless innings before getting pulled after a leadoff walk in the fifth.
“I made two bad pitches,” Naughton said. “I think I came back and battled well, but in the end, I hope I can come out and execute better on those pitches.”
Oliver Ortega, who had allowed two runs in his first six innings, then gave up a two-run homer to José Altuve. Ortega allowed three of the next four hitters to reach and he was charged with three runs.
Finally, Kyle Tyler gave up three runs in the sixth, including a homer to Martin Maldonado.
Tyler bounced back with a scoreless seventh, looking more like the pitcher who had allowed just one run in his first 9-2/3 big league innings.
While those pitchers had pitched better previously, it’s worth noting that all three began the season at Double-A, and none of them had been in the majors before August. None of them are considered among the Angels’ top pitching prospects.
Austin Warren, who began the year in Triple-A, pitched a scoreless eighth in his first outing after missing a month following a positive COVID test.
“Beautiful,” Maddon said of Warren’s performance. “First pitch slider for a strike. I thought the ball is coming out hot again. This is a guy you know what to expect. That’s what you want from your relief pitchers.”
The Angels trailed 10-1 in the sixth before Phil Gosselin blasted a three-run homer, his second hit of the night. It was the seventh homer of the season for Gosselin.
Earlier Jack Mayfield had hit his 10th homer, this one against the team that brought him to the big leagues. Mayfield reached double-digits in homers after hitting just two in his 112 plate appearances with the Astros in 2019-20.
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