Guardians lose series opener to Angels; Jose Ramirez hit streak ends at 21 games

CLEVELAND — It was a double dose of defeat for the Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday night. Not only did Cleveland drop the series opener to the Los Angeles Angels 4-1, but Jose Ramirez saw his career-high hitting streak come to an end at 21 games — one shy of the longest streak in the majors this season. It was another offensive struggle for the Guardians, who got a quality outing from right-hander Luis Ortiz but managed only six hits while losing for the fourth time in eight games. Los Angeles snapped a five-game skid. Angels starter Jose Soriano shut out Cleveland on one hit over the first three innings before consecutive two-out singles from Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana, and a four-pitch walk from Daniel Schneemann, loaded the bases in the fourth. Gabriel Arias ended the threat by striking out swinging on four pitches. The Guardians put two on with two outs in the eighth on a single from Angel Martinez and walk from Ramirez, but Kyle Manzardo struck out to end the inning. Nolan Jones' RBI single in the ninth avoided the shutout. Cleveland mustered only three hits over the final five innings. Ortiz flirted with disaster early, allowing two hits apiece in the second, third and fourth innings, but only surrendering a run as the Angels left five on base. The right-hander finished strong, allowing just one more hit over his final two innings and retiring the side in order in the sixth with two strikeouts. Though he went hitless, Ramirez was able to extend his streak of reaching base to 26 games by drawing a walk in the eighth. Angels star Mike Trout played for the first time since April 30, returning from a bone bruise in left knee. He went 1-for-5 and struck out twice with a line-drive single to lead off the fourth. The Guardians suffered a third loss when right-hander Andrew Walters left with an apparent arm injury on his first pitch to Trout after allowing a home run an estimated 393 feet to left to Soler in the ninth. Walters dealt with a shoulder injury in spring training and spent time on the injured list at Triple-A Columbus and had just made his season debut Wednesday. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.