One bad inning costs Jack Kochanowicz in Angels' loss to Yankees

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on May 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — One inning – and really one pitch – ruined the night for Angels pitcher Jack Kochanowicz.

The right-hander gave up four runs in the fourth inning of a 5-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Monday night.

Kochanowicz retired 17 of the 19 hitters he faced in the other six innings when he took the mound.

Even if he had avoided the trouble in the fourth, it would have been tough for the Angels (25-28) because their bats have gone quiet during their three-game losing streak.

As for Kochanowicz, he had plenty of positives to take from this game. Through the first three innings, he retired all nine hitters on 28 pitches, including 22 strikes.

When the Yankees got their second look at him, in the fourth inning, it didn’t go well.

Kochanowicz gave up singles to Ben Rice and Trent Grisham. Aaron Judge then smoked a shot toward third baseman Yoán Moncada. He got a glove on it, but the ball dribbled away, for an infield hit. Had Moncada come up with the ball, he likely would have had time to get a double play.

Kochanowicz then walked Cody Bellinger on four pitches, pushing home a run.

After a strikeout, Kochanowicz got ahead of Anthony Volpe, 0-and-2. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe called for a four-seam fastball and he held his glove as if he wanted it above the zone. Kochanowicz left it right in Volpe’s wheelhouse, and he drilled it off the fence in center field for a bases-clearing double.

Rice and Volpe got hits after Kochanowicz got ahead with two quick strikes. This season opponents have hit .244 against Kochanowicz in plate appearances that start 0-and-2, including two homers and a double. The major league average is .165.

Kochanowicz escaped further damage in the fourth, and then he kept the Yankees off the board throughout the rest of his outing, through 62/3 innings.

The Yankees added an insurance run against right-hander Connor Brogdon in the eighth.

Angels pitchers needed to be just about perfect because of how little the lineup provided.

The Angels still have not been able to recreate the scoring binge that led to their eight-game winning streak.

After averaging more than seven runs per game during the streak, they’ve now scored just three in their three subsequent losses.

Zach Neto put the Angels on the scoreboard in the first inning, with a 440-foot homer that was the longest of his 41 career homers. The blast to straightaway center was Neto’s ninth homer of the season and his fourth homer to lead off the first inning this month.

Otherwise, the Angels didn’t even get a runner into scoring position until the eighth inning. Jo Adell provided most of the offense with a walk and two singles before popping up with runners on the corners to end the game.