The Angels’ Mike Trout, left, grounds into a double play as Shohei Ohtani watches during the third inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Angels starting pitcher Lucas Giolito throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Matt McLain hits a solo home run during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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The Cincinnati Reds’ Matt McLain hits a solo home run during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Matt McLain, who starred at Beckman High and UCLA, runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Matt McLain, left, gets a pat on the head from teammate Elly De La Cruz after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Angels star Shohei Ohtani sits in the dugout during the first inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Angels star Shohei Ohtani waits for a pitch during the first inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Will Benson, right, dives back to second safely as Angels second baseman Brandon Drury, center, throws out Tyler Stephenson at first while shortstop Andrew Velazquez watches during the second inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Angels’ Brandon Drury, right, celebrates with third base coach Bill Haselman as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Brandon Drury, left, celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Angels’ Mike Moustakas jogs toward home plate after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, center, acknowledges first base umpire Edwin Moscoso, right, as Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto stands by during the third inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, right, dives back to first base as Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto takes a pickoff throw from the pitcher during the third inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Angels starting pitcher Lucas Giolito throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Angels’ Logan O’Hoppe runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz heads to first on a fielding error by Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel during the fifth inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, right, scores the go-ahead run on a double by Spencer Steer Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe waits for the ball during the fifth inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. The Reds held on to hand the Angels a 4-3 loss. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, left, scores the go-ahead run on a double by Spencer Steer Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe waits for the ball during the fifth inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. The Reds held on to hand the Angels a 4-3 loss. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, left, scores the go-ahead run on a double by Spencer Steer Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe takes a late throw during the fifth inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. The Reds held on to hand the Angels a 4-3 loss. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz celebrates in the dugout after scoring the go-ahead run during the fifth inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz is congratulated in the dugout after scoring on a double by Spencer Steer during the fifth inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Angels relief pitcher Dominic Leone throws to the plate during the eighth inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Angels second baseman Brandon Drury throws to first base for an out during the ninth inning of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Alexis Diaz throws to the plate during the ninth inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, left, the Angels’ Mickey Moniak, center, and the Reds’ Matt McLain await a review decision that ruled Moniak out at second base on a stolen base attempt during the ninth inning on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, left, and TJ Friedl celebrate after their 4-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto, left, and TJ Friedl, center, celebrate after their 4-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Angels star Shohei Ohtani, left, pokes Manager Phil Nevin in the stomach prior to their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Angels star Mike Trout looks on from the dugout before their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM — On the first day Mike Trout was back in the Angels’ lineup in nearly two months, not much changed.
The Angels’ offense came up short in a 4-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. The defense didn’t help, as rookie first baseman Nolan Schanuel made an error that led to three unearned runs.
“He feels awful for what happened,” Manager Phil Nevin said of Schanuel. “We’re not putting this on him. We had chances to score. The three home runs were good. But only three other hits besides that. Really scattered around. There was no traffic. We didn’t put any pressure on their defense, nor their pitcher. So to me, that’s what it came down to.”
The Angels had hoped for a little better offense with Trout back in the lineup.
Trout, who had missed seven weeks with a fractured hamate bone, was 1 for 4 with an infield hit in his return. He struck out and hit into a double play as the Angels (61-65) returned from back-to-back days off created by Tropical Storm Hilary with their 14th loss in 19 games.
The Angels didn’t manage much offense at all against Reds rookie right-hander Graham Ashcraft, who brought a 4.89 ERA into the game. Their only runs were on solo homers from Brandon Drury, Mike Moustakas and Logan O’Hoppe. They struck out 10 times against him.
After O’Hoppe’s homer in the fourth inning gave the Angels a 3-1 lead, they didn’t have another hit until Trout’s single in the eighth.
Angels starter Lucas Giolito gave up four runs in six innings, but only one of the runs was earned. He struck out nine and walked two.
Giolito gave up a homer in the first inning to Matt McClain, a product of Beckman High and UCLA, but then he settled down. Giolito allowed just an infield hit over the next three innings, and he was about to get out of the fifth when his defense betrayed him.
The inning began with a leadoff walk to No. 8 hitter Will Benson. After a strikeout, T.J. Friedl hit a line drive into right field. Hunter Renfroe gambled by diving for it instead of playing it on a hop, and the ball got past him for a double.
Giolito responded with a strikeout and he got Elly De La Cruz to hit a routine bouncer to first baseman Schanuel, who had the ball tick off the end of his glove and bounce away.
Both runners scored on the error by Schanuel, who reached the major leagues on Friday just 40 days after the Angels picked him in the draft.
After the game, Schanuel sat quietly at his locker as several teammates came by to give him some words of encouragement.
“I know that sometimes people want to point the finger at the error,” Giolito said. “But there’s a lot of things I could have done better to even avoid that situation altogether. Four-pitch leadoff walk kind of put us in a tough situation to start the inning.”
Spencer Steer, a Long Beach Millikan High product, followed with a double down the left field line, putting the Reds ahead 4-3 with the third unearned run in the inning. De La Cruz scored from first on the play.
Giolito said he regretted the “hanging slider” to Steer on the go-ahead hit.
“I like to take pride in stranding runners and trying to pick up teammates but unfortunately didn’t get the job done there,” Giolito said.
Giolito tacked on a scoreless inning in the sixth.
Giolito has a 6.67 ERA in five games since the Angels acquired him from the Chicago White Sox on July 26, a deal that stood as a statement that the Angels would be buyers before the trade deadline.
Although this was another loss, it was nonetheless his best outing.
“He threw the ball great,” Nevin said. “Efficient with his pitches. He gives up the homer in the first and you know you can go sideways from there, but you can just see a different demeanor in him today. Kind of a bulldog mentality. For most of that game we’re thinking he’s gonna get deep here, with a doubleheader tomorrow it’s gonna help us with the ’pen. Just didn’t work out that way.”
Tuesday’s game became the series opener after Monday’s game was postponed due to the aftereffects of the storm, which left the field too wet to play. The teams will play a doubleheader on Wednesday.
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