Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington has been in the game a long time, so it's understandable that he's confident in his decision-making. However, one of his managerial moves proved costly and he took no blame.
With the bases loaded and his Los Angeles Angels trailing 7-6 with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Luis Guillorme was tasked with making a suicide squeeze.
However, because the slider he faced was well outside the strike zone, Guillorme missed and baserunner Zach Neto was thrown out at home.
Guillorme struck out later in the at-bat to end the inning, and the Angels lost by the same score.
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Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington looks on from the dugout during a game against the Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports)
It was a peculiar Washington decision for almost everyone except Washington.
Washington admitted he made the decision because of the left-handed matchup and didn't want Guillorme to fall into a double play with a sinker ball pitcher on the hit.
The 72-year-old veteran coach dismissed any blame and put it all on Guillorme.
“He can handle the bat,” Washington began. “He didn't do the job. It wasn't anything I did wrong. He didn't do the job.”
Washington later said he “would have rather gone into the ninth inning with a 6-6 lead than gone into the ninth inning like we did.” That's difficult to do since it's impossible to have a lead in a 6-6 game, or any tied game, for that matter. The game also couldn't have become a 6-6 game because the St. Louis Cardinals already had seven runs.
Ron Washington of the Los Angeles Angels walks to the mound to throw off José Suárez after Suárez allowed four runs in the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on April 24, 2024, in Anaheim, California. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Washington was then pressed about how Cardinals reliever JoJo Romero was “wild.” He had walked his two previous batters and 13 of his 25 pitches to that point had been outside the zone.
Despite that, Washington insisted that Romero had been negotiating.
“Wild? I was throwing the ball in the strike zone. Why are you making excuses?” Washington pleaded. “He was throwing the ball in the strike zone. He didn't make the bunt. Period.”
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Guillorme took the high road after the media ended his time with the coach.
“I didn't see (what Washington said). He made a good throw,” Guillorme said. “I didn't understand it. I have to try to put a bat on it. That's all.”
Manager Ron Washington of the Los Angeles Angels sits in the dugout before the opening game against the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on April 5, 2024, in Anaheim, California. (Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
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With the loss, the Angels fell to 15-28. Their .349 winning percentage is the fourth-lowest in the majors and puts them on pace to finish the season with a 56-116 record.
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