a game in nine starts, but that’s not an indictment of how he’s pitched.

Kikuchi has a 3.72 ERA and he’s gotten through six innings in six starts. He’s only failed to finish five once.

Kikuchi allowed just two earned runs in six innings on Monday. In the third inning, he quickly retired the first two hitters but then gave up a run on three straight singles.

Kikuchi was about to get out of the inning when Xander Bogaerts hit a chopper to his left. He jumped and grabbed the ball, but he bobbled it on the way down. He still had time to pick it up and throw to first, but his throw skipped past Schanuel as two runs scored.

At that point, it looked like it might be a typical Angels game.

The offense did little other than two runs on a Zach Neto homer in the third. Their only other run until the ninth-inning rally scored on a Padres error.

Perhaps their comeback should not have been a huge surprise, though, because the Angels have played better against better teams since last year.

The 2024 Angels lost 99 games. Five of the eight teams that they played .500 or better against were playoff teams, though. That included a three-game sweep of the Padres.

Asked before the game if he could explain that, Washington came up empty.

“if I knew, we wouldn’t play like we play against the teams that are not as successful,” Washington said. “I don’t know. We play well against good teams.”