Lead lost, and so is 10th straight game

JERED WEAVER got the loss as the Angels fell 5-4 to the Indians for their 10th straight defeat (Flickr/Arturo Pardavila III).

By Pete Zarustica

Even an early three-run lead isn’t enough for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim these days, as the Halos lost 5-4 to the Cleveland Indians Sunday in Ohio. It was their 10th straight loss, their worst streak in this century.

The Angels (49-68) built their early 4-1 edge on home runs by Ji-Man Choi and Geovany Soto, but the Tribe (69-48) rallied with two runs each in the fifth and sixth. Once again, the Halo offense looked pretty thin, with just five hits. Mike Trout sat out the game to get some rest, and the top of the lineup – Yunel Escobar, Kole Calhoun and Albert Pujols were a combined 1-for-12.

Jered Weaver (8-10) started strong for the Orange County team, but faltered in the fifth and sixth innings. He ended up going 5.1 innings, yielding 10 hits and five earned runs. He walked two, had no strikeouts and gave up a solo home run to Jason Kipnis in the first inning.

Manager Mike Scioscia sought to find some bright spots. “It’s easy to look at this game and see some positives where things went right,” he said. “Also where the game got away. To win a game, you need to do a lot of things on the field.”

After being swept two series in a row, the Angels will have Monday off and be back in Anaheim on Tuesday to start a series hosting the Seattle Mariners.