The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim held a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Guardians heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but would once again find a way to lose Wednesday afternoon.
With the loss, the Angels fall to 61-82 in 2022. Their 82nd loss clinches a losing season for the seventh-straight year. It is the longest active streak among Major League teams.
The Angels last finished above .500 in 2015, when they finished third in the American League West at 85-76, missing out on the second American League wild card spot by a game.
The last time the Angels made the postseason was in 2014, when the club won 98 games and its first AL West title since 2009.
Since their last winning season, star outfielder Mike Trout has won two American League MVP awards, placing top-5 in MVP voting three other times. The Angels also had another player earn AL MVP honors in 2021, when pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani received the award.
The Angels as a franchise could soon be available for purchase, as owner Arte Moreno is exploring a potential sale of the team.
The Angels experienced a great deal of success in the first decade of the new millennium, making the playoffs six times, winning the AL West five times, and winning their first ever World Series in 2002.
Since the start of the 2010s, the Angels have made just one postseason appearance.
The Guardians claimed their sixth-straight win Wednesday and have now won eight of their last nine. They improve to 76-65 on the season, and with the Chicago White Sox losing 3-0 to the Colorado Rockies Wednesday, now have a four-game lead in the American League Central division race with just three weeks to go in the regular season .
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