Jhoulys Chacin roughed up again in LA Angels' loss to Red Sox

BOSTON >> Jhoulys Chacin put the Angels in a hole and then, in Mike Scioscia’s eyes, a replay official buried them.

The Angels lost 5-4 to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, their 10th loss in the last 11 games, because of another rough start from Chacin, whose status in the rotation is now tenuous.

Still, they had a chance to tie the score in the ninth iing, but replay officials in New York upheld a call on the field that the Angels manager called “a joke.”

With two outs and Mike Trout at first, Daniel Nava hit a double into the right-field coer. Trout would have scored the tying run easily, but the ball went into the stands for a ground-rule double, so he had to go back to third base.

Scioscia argued that a fan had reached over the fence and actually pulled the ball back, when it would have stayed in play. If the call had been fan interference, umpires could have awarded Trout home.

“No doubt about it,” Scioscia said. “I don’t know what they are looking at in New York, but that ball is absolutely in the field of play when that fan touches it. ... On replay it’s as clear as it’s ever going to be. That’s a brutal call for whoever is back in New York looking at it.”

Even Red Sox manager John Farrell didn’t seem sure the right call was made: “You might say we caught a break there.”

For as upset as Scioscia was about that call, he acknowledged the Angels had other chances.

Just before Nava’s double in the ninth, a ball had squirted away from catcher Christian Vazquez and Trout didn’t move into scoring position.

“I should have been at second,” Trout said. “No excuses. I thought it didn’t go as far as it did.”

The Angels, who scored all their runs on C.J. Cron’s grand slam in the sixth, also had a ruer at third with one out in the eighth. Carlos Perez attempted safety squeeze, but pitcher Koji Uehara got to the ball quickly and made a nice flip to the plate to get Johy Giavotella.

The biggest issue for the Angels was Chacin, who gave up all five runs in 4 2/3 iings.

Chacin now has an 8.78 ERA in his last six starts. Afterward, Scioscia was unwilling to commit to Chacin taking his next tu in the rotation.

“We’ll have some decisions to make, but we’re not going to make them tonight,” Scioscia said. “We have a lot of things we’re looking at the next tu through the rotation. We’re not committed to anything.”

The Angels have Nick Tropeano healthy and pitching at Triple-A. Tropeano, who had a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts before going on the disabled list, was optioned last weekend to allow the Angels more time to decide what to do with their other five starters.

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Chacin can’t be optioned, so the Angels would have to designate him for assignment or send him to the bullpen.

He might have made the decision easier with a sloppy performance Friday. Chacin faced 26 batters and he allowed 15 of them to reach base safely. He avoided further trouble because the Angels tued a double play, picked off a ruer and nabbed a ruer trying to take an extra base.

“I felt my stuff was really good,” Chacin said. “My ball was moving. I was getting ahead in the count. I just couldn’t finish.”