PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Cody Asche’s rough night in the field ruined Cliff Lee’s effort on the mound.
Luis Jimenez hit a tiebreaking double in the sixth, Matt Shoemaker tossed five effective innings and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Lee allowed four unearned runs and six hits, striking out seven in seven innings. He was hurt by Asche’s three errors at third base.
“I know he wasn’t doing it on purpose,” Lee said. “He had some funky balls hit to him.”
Mike Trout went 1 for 5 with more than 4,000 fans in the crowd from his hometown of Millville, New Jersey. The two-time All-Star center fielder grew up in the small town 45 minutes south of Philadelphia.
Lee (3-4) took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, but Asche’s fielding and throwing errors led to four unearned runs. Collin Cowgill led off the inning with a double to left. After Trout struck out, Albert Pujols reached when Asche let his high bouncer go off his glove. Howie Kendrick walked to load the bases.
Chris Iannetta then hit a bouncer to Asche, who pulled catcher Carlos Ruiz off the plate with his throw home. Grant Green’s sacrifice fly tied it at 2. Jimenez followed with a two-run double on a 3-0 pitch, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead.
“It’s frustrating, not just for myself, but when you let a team down,” Asche said. “Cliff was pitching well. He could’ve gone all night.”
Asche has struggled in his first full season. He’s hitting .226 with a team-high six errors.
“The kid had a tough night,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. “That can happen. We’ll continue to work with him. A lot of things have been thrown at him.”
The Phillies have lost two in a row to fall three games below .500. They blew a 4-1 lead in the ninth in a 5-4, extra-inning loss to the Mets on Sunday. Closer Jonathan Papelbon wasn’t available to pitch that day because he was sore after earning saves in the first two games of the series.
Papelbon has drawn criticism from fans for not pitching. Sandberg said before the game the team needs its closer to be able to pitch three days in a row.
Shoemaker (1-1) allowed two runs and three hits. He made his second career start and first this season. The righty was called up to replace Hector Santiago, who was sent to the bullpen after going 0-6 with a 5.19 ERA in seven starts.
Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven tries.
Domonic Brown hit a triple off reliever Fernando Salas and scored on Ruiz’s sacrifice fly in the seventh to get the Phillies to 4-3.
Shoemaker retired his first nine batters before Ben Revere hit a hard single just past second baseman Kendrick. One out later, Chase Utley ripped an RBI triple into the right-field corner to make it 1-0.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia challenged the safe call at third, but it was upheld following a replay review that took 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
Ryan Howard hit an RBI single through the vacated hole at shortstop for a 2-0 lead.
NOTES: The Phillies called up INF Cesar Hernandez from Double-A Reading to take Jayson Nix’s spot on the roster. Nix was outrighted to Triple-A on Monday, but chose to become a free agent. … The Angels optioned RHP Cory Rasmus to Triple-A Salt Lake. … Sandberg said a Shake Shack hamburger at Citi Field gave him food poisoning during Philadelphia’s weekend series in New York…. RHP A.J. Burnett (2-2, 2.90 ERA) goes for the Phillies against RHP Garrett Richards (3-0, 2.80) on Wednesday.
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