Alex Meyer struggles in Angels' loss to Twins

MINNEAPOLIS >> After watching Alex Meyer struggle once again, Mike Scioscia chose to look at the big picture rather than the uglier small one.

Meyer struggled through five innings in the Angels’ 9-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, having issues with his command, control and even concentration.

As Scioscia was asked about all that’s gone wrong, though, he cautioned against looking too closely at the flaws.

“It’s tough to see the forest for the trees sometimes,” Scioscia said. “Look where he was last year or even in spring training. There’s a huge jump. We’re hoping he’ll continue to take steps forward.”

Meyer had been doing that, posting a 2.25 ERA over his previous six starts. At times he was able get his control problems … under control. At other times he was able to pitch around them, thanks to his ability to strike hitters out.

In this game, he did neither. Although he’d been better lately with the Angels, it must have looked familiar to the Twins, who traded Meyer last summer because of issues like this.

“I’m not throwing the ball over the plate enough,” Meyer said. “I’m putting free guys on base.”

Meyer walked four, gave up six hits, hit a batter and balked in a run. He was charged with five runs, but three of them scored in one quick sequence that was the height of his frustration.

Meyer had allowed a double and a walk in the second, but he got the second out, thanks to a diving stop by Andrelton Simmons, and he had a two-strike count on Joe Mauer.

Meyer threw Mauer a breaking ball, but the former MVP didn’t bite. Then Meyer was called for a balk after a pickoff throw to first, pushing home the game’s first run. First base umpire Jeff Nelson ruled that Meyer’s front leg had buckled, as if he was about to begin his delivery to the plate, but then he threw to first.

“I’m not sure what I did,” Meyer said. “It’s the pickoff move I’ve always done.”

Meyer then acknowledged he was “frustrated from that and I let it override into the next at-bat.”

His next pitch was a fastball right down the middle, and Mauer crushed it over the center field fence, for a two-run homer.

“It’s frustrating,” Meyer said. “I’ve got to be better. You’ve got to be better at handling it than I was.”

The Twins picked away at him for single runs in the third and fourth, the latter on a Max Kepler homer, and Meyer’s night was done after five innings.

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The Angels didn’t manage to score against Adalberto Mejia until Simmons’ two-run single in the fourth — one of his three hits — cut the lead to 4-2. The Angels scored three more runs, on Martin Maldonado’s two-run homer — his career-high ninth — and a towering upper deck homer by Luis Valbuena against the left-handed Mejia.

Unfortunately for the Angels, the normally reliable bullpen gave up four more runs, two against Yusmeiro Petit and two against David Heandez.

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