The Angels couldn’t have scripted a better opening act to this season, going 27-17 and sitting one game behind the American League West-leading Houston Astros on May 24.
A rejuvenated offense ranked among baseball’s top four teams in runs, homers and on-base-plus-slugging percentage through 44 games. A deeper pitching staff ranked seventh in ERA and second in WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched).
Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon were in the lineup together after Trout and Rendon missed most of 2021 because of injuries. The top half of the rotation — Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen — looked stout, and young left-handers Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers showed promise.
New setup men Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera were dealing in front of closer Raisel Iglesias. Shortstop Andrew Velazquez, filling in for the injured David Fletcher, looked like a Gold Glove candidate.
As a strong start morphed into a solid six-week run — a sample size seemingly too large for the Angels to be considered a fluke — fans hardened by six straight losing seasons began to believe the seven-year playoff drought could finally end.
Those hopes were boosted by a dramatic three-game set from May 8-10, when Rendon hit a walk-off RBI single against Washington, Ohtani hit his first-ever grand slam against Tampa Bay and Detmers threw a no-hitter against the Rays.
Then, it was as if a trap door flew open and swallowed the entire team whole.
The Angels stumbled and bumbled their way to 14 straight losses from May 25 to June 8, a franchise-record-long streak that led to the June 7 firing of manager Joe Maddon and triggered a two-month tailspin they have been unable to stop.
The Angels went a major league-worst 12-36 from May 25 through the All-Star break to fall 20½ games behind the Astros in the division and 10½ games back in the wild-card standings entering Friday’s second-half opener at Atlanta.