Scioscia: Our team has to be more than Mike Trout
ANAHEIM, Calif. - After the Los Angeles Angels stumbled to their ninth loss in 10 games Wednesday, manager Mike Scioscia held a closed-door meeting before they packed up and flew to Boston.
Although everybody described the meeting as relatively upbeat, the Angels didn't emerge with any big ideas on how to slow a season going south. With too many injured players and not enough big hitters, the Angels (32-47) are on pace for the worst record in franchise history.
''We know we've seen some guys performing at their absolute worst for the first half, and we know they're better than that,'' Scioscia said. ''That's going to be our goal, to get those guys going in the right direction ... I don't think these guys are taking losing in stride. I think that's a positive.''
If so, it's one of the few positives in Anaheim these days.
Houston completed a three-game sweep of the Angels on Wednesday, outscoring its AL West rivals by a combined 21-7. The Angels have been swept in seven series already this season, and their 8-19 record in June was their worst in the month since 1980.
Those 1980 Angels lost 95 games. The current Angels are on pace for 96 defeats, less than two years after they won 98 games for the majors' best record.
Mike Trout is still performing brilliantly, going 18-for-30 with three homers during their six-game homestand. Just about everybody else in an Angels uniform is struggling to some degree.
''Our team has to be more than Mike,'' Scioscia said. ''We've been struggling to get our lineup a little deeper. ... We're looking forward to getting some guys back, but the guys that are in that room should be playing better than we are, and that's what we're going to focus on. We're all looking in the mirror and trying to get us going in the right direction. We all need to get better.''