The Los Angeles Angels couldn’t rebound from the return of slugger Mike Trout from injury.

The Angels dropped a 3-4 decision to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels fell to 61 wins and 65 losses on the season.

Shohei Ohtani started in the No. 3 spot and went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts, while Trout started in center field and went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.

The Angels are virtually out of fall baseball. With the third-place Seattle Mariners riding an eight-game winning streak and the fourth-place Toronto Blue Jays closing in on them with a three-game winning streak, the Angels are 9.5 games out of the American League Wild Card. For the rest of the season, the Angels would have to go on a miraculous winning streak and Seattle and Toronto would have to collapse side by side, which is highly unlikely.

The Angels have to wonder why they held onto two-hit wonder Ohtani. Before the trade, Ohtani was batting .306 with 43 home runs, 89 RBIs, and a 1.070 OPS in 123 games as a hitter, while starting 22 games as a pitcher, going 10-5 with a 3.17 ERA in 130⅔ innings. He’s in line to repeat as American League MVP in 2021.

Leading up to the trade deadline, Major League Baseball insiders consistently suggested that the Angels should sell Ohtani, given their slim chances in fall ball. There were even reports that the Angels were listening to what they could get in return from teams that wanted to trade Ohtani, but ultimately did not move.

The Angels’ decision to keep Ohtani is proving to be fatal in the eyes of the American media. Instead, the Angels signed Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, CJ Cron, Randall Grichuk, and others for a chance to make one last run at the postseason with Ohtani, and it didn’t work out. No matter how much Ohtani flies and gears, the mound collapses and the bats don’t come together, leading to a frustrating offense.온라인바카

Ohtani, who is eligible for free agency after this season, has consistently stated that he wants to play for a team with a winning record. It seems unlikely that Ohtani will stay with the Angels, who haven’t made it to fall ball since 2018.

The Angels were hoping to use the call-up as a springboard to rebound from a fractured wrist last month, but the Angels were the Angels. Giolito got no help from his defense, allowing four runs (one earned) on five hits (one home run) with two walks and nine strikeouts in six innings to take the loss.

Giolito got off to a shaky start, allowing a solo home run to Matt McLain in the first inning.

The Angels answered back in the bottom of the second. Brandon Drury and Mike Moustakas hit back-to-back home runs to make it a 2-1 game. In the bottom of the fourth, Logan Ohlhoff hit a solo shot to left-center field to make it 3-1.

But again, the mound couldn’t hold. In the top of the fifth, with runners on second and third, Eli Delacruz induced a grounder to first that was misplayed by first baseman Nolan Chanuel, allowing two runs to score to make it 3-3. With two outs, Spencer Steer hit a backhanded double to center field to make it 3-4.

Ohtani and Trout would not be able to complete the comeback. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, it looked like Trout had one last chance to make a comeback when he reached on an infield single in front of the shortstop. The next batter was Ohtani, who could get a hit at any time, but the momentum was short-lived as Ohtani fouled out to left field and Drury grounded out to second base to end the comeback.