Offensive woes continue for Angels, Ben Joyce makes his return
Jack Janes
Host · Writer
Runs have been hard to come by for the Angels since returning from the All-Star break.
The Angels are averaging a measly 2.5 runs per game post-All-Star break, and the struggles continued on Wednesday night, as they only mustered four hits in their 5-2 loss against the Orioles in Baltimore.
Jose Siri’s solo home run in the sixth inning and Wade Meckler’s RBI single in the seventh were the only runs that the Angels’ bats could get across the plate.
The only other players to even reach base were Travis d’Arnaud and Nolan Schanuel. d’Arnaud weakly hit a ground ball up the middle that became a hit by bouncing off the second base bag and into center field out of the reach of Jackson Holiday and Schanuel hit a grounder in the three-four hole that Pete Alonso couldn’t field cleanly. Schanuel eventually scored on Meckler’s single.
Heading into play on Wednesday, the Angels were slashing .224/.303/.318 with a .620 OPS and a 26.8% strikeout rate. The slugging percentage, OPS and strikeout rate all rank as the worst in baseball in that stretch.
The Angels have only scored five or more runs in a game twice in those 17 games.
On the mound, it appears the elements were getting to left-hander Reid Detmers. He cruised through the first three innings of the game, but fell apart in the fourth by allowing a walk, then back-to-back home runs.
Detmers’ velocity was down in this start, and it continued to drop by each passing inning. In the fourth inning, his fastball velocity averaged 91.8 mph.
The Angels broadcast mentioned that Detmers has been coming over a cold recently, so that paired with significant heat and humidity in Baltimore could’ve been a factor in the velocity dip.
Somebody who has no problems with velocity, on the other hand, made a return to a big league mound. Right-hander Ben Joyce appeared in a big league game for the first time since April 8, 2025, due to shoulder surgery.
Joyce tossed a scoreless inning while striking out and walking a batter with no hits allowed. His fastball averaged 100.8 mph and topped out at 102.2 mph.
The Angels are now 43-71 and will look to avoid the sweep on Thursday morning in the series finale.
