Ron Washington rights previous wrong and takes some blame for latest frustrating Angels loss

Los Angeles Angels manager is known for backing up his players at all costs, but he shocked the MLB world when he refused to do that just 10 days ago in a loss against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Washington called for a suicide squeeze with Luis Guillorme at the plate against a pitcher who hadn't thrown many strikes at all that inning. Guillorme couldn't get the bunt down, the Angels rally was halted, and the team eventually lost the game. Rather than shoulder the blame for his questionable call, Washington placed the blame squarely on Guillorme for not getting the bunt down even though the pitch was nowhere near the zone.

It was shocking to see Washington blame a player like that, especially when the said player was clearly not in the wrong. When given another opportunity to blame a player, Washington righted his previous wrong in Los Angeles' latest frustrating loss by taking some blame himself.

Ron Washington takes high road this time around with latest Angels loss

Patrick Sandoval had been turning his season around after a rough April, but that positive momentum went away with a brutal outing on Friday. Sandoval looked good in the first inning of his start against the Cleveland Guardians, but it only got worse from there. Sandoval allowed two runs in the second and third innings, and despite having Jose Suarez throwing in the bullpen, Washington had him start the fourth.

While that was somewhat defensible, Sandoval's night completely spiraled out of control in that frame. He wound up allowing three straight two-out hits including back-to-back home runs to turn what was a manageable 4-2 deficit into an 8-2 hole. The Angels wound up losing 10-4 to fall to 20-31 on the year.

When asked why Washington brought Sandoval out for the fourth and kept him in as long as he did despite the rough second and third innings, the Angels skipper had this to say:

“I think it was my heart, because I’ve seen him have that type of start and settle in. I was hoping he’d settle in and give us some innings. It just didn’t work out. I left him out there too long.”

Washington used his heart rather than his head with Sandoval. He had seen his pitcher work through struggles in the past and was hoping he'd settle in and give length. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, and Washington admitted that he left him in for too long.

Good on Washington for taking responsibility this time around. Yes, he did leave Sandoval in too long. It's probably unlikely that the Angels' bullpen pitches well enough to give them a chance to win, but Sandoval certainly didn't help. The 'pen was rested coming off of an off-day, so relying on Sandoval as long as he did is pretty inexcusable.

Washington easily could've said that Sandoval has to be better and take none of the blame for leaving him in for too long. While yes, Sandoval obviously has to be much better, it was good to see Washington take the high road and shoulder at least some of the blame.