Angels Suffer Frustrating Loss to Cardinals in Attempted Squeeze Play

The Los Angeles Angels suffered a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in a game that saw them attempt a squeeze play, which ultimately failed and left manager Ron Washington frustrated. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning and down by one run, Luis Guillorme was tasked with executing a squeeze bunt to tie the game. However, despite being recently acquired by the Angels, Guillorme was unable to do so as he missed a 1-1 slider from Cardinals reliever JoJo Romero, resulting in a tag-out at home plate and advancing the baserunner to third.

Four pitches later, Guillorme struck out to end the inning and squandered the Angels’ opportunity to tie or take the lead. Washington defended his decision to call for the squeeze play, citing the matchup of lefty vs. lefty and wanting to avoid potential double plays. However, he placed full blame on Guillorme for not performing his job well enough. Despite Romero’s struggles with control leading up to the play, Washington dismissed any notion that wildness played a factor in their loss.

In response to Washington’s comments, Guillorme acknowledged his failure and credited Romero for making a good pitch that he simply could not execute properly. The loss dropped the Angels’ record to 15-28, placing them last in AL West division with recent string of losses they have been struggling as they have only managed to win consecutive games twice this season so far.