Angels Held Special Team Meeting Amid Recent Struggles

The Los Angeles Angels have been struggling in this recent stretch of games, but ahead of Thursday's 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the hitters meeting took longer than usual.

Manager Ron Washington as well as a few players spoke in an attempt to get the lineup out of its ongoing slump. The Angels offense has recorded 154 strikeouts and 17 walks in the last 14 games, including Saturday's 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Nevertheless, Thursday's meeting appeared to have a positive effect on Halos hitters as the team went on to defeat Pittsburgh.

“We had a good meeting, and then we went out there and performed according to the meeting,” Washington said. “We were a lot more aggressive.

“Having the wrong mental state can snowball you more than the fact that we’re not getting base hits. So it was mainly about our mental state, and they came out last night and checked their mental state.”

The Angels are 4-10 in their last 14 games, and while Thursday's pep talk may have helped the lineup that day, the offensive slump has continued into the weekend. The Angels have lots of work to do in terms of escaping the downward spiral the team is currently on.

The poor performance at the plate wasn't the only problem in Saturday's loss. Yusei Kikuchi gave up four runs on nine singles.

The lineup has been struggling for weeks, but the latest pitching performance doesn't bode well for the Angels either.

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