Angels' Kenny Rosenberg struggles in his first start of season

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kenny Rosenberg has an opportunity to secure a spot in the gaping hole in the Angels’ rotation, and his first try didn’t go as he’d hoped.

Rosenberg, the 14th pitcher to start for the Angels this season, coughed up an early three-run lead and got knocked out in the fourth inning of a 6-5 loss to the Oakland A’s on Thursday night.

“Look, dude, I lost that game for us, right?” Rosenberg said. “Elephant in the room. I gave up six. We lost 6-5… Ultimately it feels bad to lose a game for a team that’s been playing really well recently, playing our stones off.”

The Angels (45-58) had won four in a row heading into Thursday’s game, which was the latest opportunity for a pitcher to fill in what has been a void in the rotation ever since Reid Detmers was sent to Triple-A and Patrick Sandoval underwent Tommy John surgery.

Plenty of pitchers have gotten chances, and none of them have been able to stick.

Rosenberg, a 29-year-old lefthander who has had a few brief opportunities in the majors over the past three seasons, has shown some flashes, but without the consistency.

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“I can make seven, eight, nine however many pitches in a row that are good pitches, and then you make one bad one and it costs you three runs,” Rosenberg said. “Today I felt like I strung together a couple good pitches here and there, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not doing it over and over and over and over and over again. Because that one pitch can be the difference in the game and tonight it was. An that's on me.”

Rosenberg was burned by two of Oakland’s hottest hitters.

Rookie outfielder Lawrence Butler led off the game with a double, eventually coming around to score, and then he hit blasted a two-run homer in the third. It was Butler’s ninth homer of July, including three against the Angels.

Brent Rooker also hit a homer against Rosenberg. It was his 24th homer of the season, and his fifth against the Angels.

Daz Cameron hit a two-run homer to knock out Rosenberg in the fourth inning, with a 6-5 deficit.

The Angels have an off day on Monday, so they could just skip this spot the next time through. Of course, they also could trade Tyler Anderson in the next week, which would open yet another hole in the rotation.

At this point, the Angels’ rotation figures to remain a work in progress until Detmers and/or Chase Silseth can get their act together in Triple-A.

Rosenberg was on the hook for a loss when he left, which was a quick turnaround from the 5-2 lead he had after the second inning.

The Angels strung together four hits and two walks to jump on Ross Stripling, but then the offensive spigot stopped. The Angels came up empty in the next three innings, failing to knock Stripling out of the game until the sixth inning.

The Angels’ bats could not get even the one run they needed to tie the game, despite the bullpen holding the game close after Rosenberg departed.

Hunter Strickland, Matt Moore, Ben Joyce and Roansy Contreras combined for 52/3 scoreless innings.

The Angels left a runner in scoring position in the sixth, when Nolan Schanuel struck out. In the seventh, Mickey Moniak dropped a one-out hit into the left field corner, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Moniak was initially ruled safe, but upon review it was determined that he popped off the bag.

“The slide was late because when he hit the bag, he couldn’t stop,” manager Ron Washington said. “You’re supposed to be able to slide and stop the momentum right there. But the slide was late. So he hit the bag with momentum and couldn’t stay down on it.”