C.J. CRON had one of the two hits for the Angels on Wednesday. He homered in the seventh (Flickr/Keith Allison).

By Pete Zarustica

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim picked a heck of a time to have a hitting slump. The Halos, who had won 10 of 12 games at one point. now have lost two in a row against the last place Oakland Athletics after a 4-1 defeat Wednesday.

C.J. Cron homered in the seventh inning, and that was pretty much the whole offense for the Angels, whose record fell to 62-77. They remain in fourth place in the American League West, but recent outcomes have allowed the A’s (60-79) to creep within two games of the Orange County team. The Angels haven’t had a last place finish of their own since 1999, when they finished 70-92.

The chief nemesis of the Halos was Jharel Cotton, who made his major league debut a memorable one. He worked 6.1 innings, yielding just two hits and one run. Hr struck out three batters and walked two.

Angel starter Alex Meyer (0-2) wasn’t awful, but his control sometimes was. He gave up one hit and one run over 3.1 innings and struck out five batters but walked four. “Two four-pitch walks, you can’t have that,” Meyer said.

For the Angels’ part, they finished with just two hits: Cron’s home run – his 16th of the season – and a single by Andrelton Simmons.

The Angels have Thursday off to travel, then start a 10-game home stand on Fridat, beginning with the first place Texas Rangers.