PITTSBURGH - The Angels’ season keeps sinking, but Ryan Johnson keeps giving them something to latch onto.
On Friday night at PNC Park, Los Angeles dropped its 10th game in the last 11, a 1-0 loss to the Pirates that opened a three-game series and kicked off a nine-game road trip with stops in Boston and Washington. The defeat left the Angels with the worst record in the Major Leagues at 53-88.
Johnson, though, did his part to steady things. The rookie right-hander worked six innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out six and walking two. He came away with the loss, but not for lack of effort.
“RJ [Johnson] was fantastic tonight,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He’s been working a lot on his breaking ball, and it was really good. I thought RJ obviously gave us a chance to win, did everything he could, and pitched great.”
The only run of the game came in the second inning. After Oneil Cruz opened the frame with a walk and was erased at second on a fielder’s choice, Jake Mangum doubled to right field to bring home Konnor Griffin, who had just returned from the 60-day injured list, all the scoring Pittsburgh would need.
Jared Jones handled the Angels from the other side, striking out nine over six strong innings. Wilber Dotel and Mason Montgomery finished off a four-hit shutout, and Los Angeles was blanked for the 12th time this season.
Johnson said the second inning was the only real trouble spot.
“I had a little bit of a shaky second inning, but I fixed some [mechanical] things and was able to keep the score close,” Johnson said. “The leadoff walk hurt.”
Even with the loss, Johnson’s recent run has been hard to miss. Over his last six starts, he owns a 1.67 ERA and has allowed one run or fewer in five of them.
That’s a sharp turn from the stretch before August, when he was 2-6 with a 7.63 ERA in 12 games. His ERA has since dropped to 5.17.
Johnson said he doesn’t have one simple explanation for the turnaround.
“It’s just a funny game,” Johnson said. “You can execute your pitches and give up hits, and you cannot execute pitches and still get outs.
[My stuff] has always been there. The great defense behind me really helped me out.
It’s just going out there and having the confidence that I belong in the big leagues and being able to trust myself.”
He also made clear he sees this as bigger than one hot stretch.
“I feel like I’m strong and still in my stride, even this late in the season,” Johnson said. "That means everything to have that consistency piece, and it’s still far from what I want to be doing. I want to do it for a full season, then for years and years, not just for half a season.”
For an Angels club still sorting out its future, that matters. Interim general manager John Mozeliak made trades at the Deadline, but he also kept left-hander Reid Detmers and shortstop Zach Neto. Whether the Angels retool or rebuild in 2027, Johnson is trying to make sure his name is part of that conversation.
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