Angels’ slumping offense leads to fifth straight loss

After getting shut out in their previous two games, the Angels suffer a 5-1 defeat as Chicago Cubs left-hander Justin Steele throws a two-hitter

CHICAGO — At least the Angels scored this time.

The Angels snapped their 22-inning scoreless streak, but still came up short in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

It was the Angels’ fifth straight loss, including back-to-back shutouts coming into the game at Wrigley Field.

This one wasn’t quite as ugly as their performances against the A’s, because they were shut down by Cubs left-hander Justin Steele, who has been one of the better pitchers in the majors the past two seasons. Steele pitched a complete game.

Also, the Angels hit a few balls hard, only to have the Cubs make spectacular plays. The Angels didn’t have a hit until the fifth, and they finished with just two.

In the end, though, the Angels still saw just 95 pitches from Steele, after seeing only 92 pitches in a shutout loss to the A’s Joey Estes on Wednesday.

While Steele was pounding the strike zone and getting the Angels to swing, right-hander Griffin Canning struggled with his control and gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings.

It was the first time since April 13 that Canning was unable to get through five innings.

His main problem was falling behind in the count. Canning threw a first-pitch ball to 14 of the 21 batters he faced.

In the first inning, Canning had a 2-and-2 count on Seiya Suzuki when he threw him a fastball over the middle of the plate. Suzuki hit it over the center-field fence for a two-run homer.

Canning issued a leadoff walk in the third to Michael Busch, who came around to score when Ian Happ singled on a 3-and-1 pitch. Canning gave up a double to Busch on a 1-and-0 pitch in the fifth, and Busch scored on a hit against reliever Hunter Strickland.

More to come on this story.