Drew Rasmussen won his third consecutive start, Manuel Margot got four hits and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Angels 8-3 Thursday to complete a four-game sweep.
The Angels lost their sixth in a row.
Rasmussen (9-4), who took a perfect game into the ninth inning and a no-hitter into the sixth in his previous two starts, gave up one run, six hits and struck out nine over 5 1 /3 innings.
There wasn’t any no-hit drama this time — Magneuris Sierra got the Angels’ first hit with a two-out triple in the second.
Isaac Paredes hit a two-run homer during a five-run third for Tampa Bay, which has won 11 of 13 and holds the top AL wild-card spot.
Taylor Ward hit a solo home run in the fourth for the Angels, who have lost nine of 10.
Shohei Othani went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Rasmussen, fanning in a 10-pitch at-bat in the first. The 2021 AL most valuable player had an RBI double off Ryan Thompson in a two-run eighth.
Margot, who returned last weekend after missing two months because of a knee injury, tripled and doubled. He drove in two runs and scored twice.
Patrick Sandoval (4-9) allowed five runs — one earned — and five hits over six innings in his first start since a four-hit shutout of Detroit last Friday.
Jose Siri opened the Rays’ third with a single and moved up when second baseman David Fletcher was charged with an error for an errant flip on Yandy Diaz’s grounder.
Margot hit a two-run triple and scored when shortstop Andrew Velaquez’s throw home on Harold Ramirez’s grounder with the infield in was off the mark.
Ramirez also had a two-run single during a three-run seventh. He has a 11-game hitting streak since returning from a broken right thumb.
New guy: Mike Ford, called up by the Angels from triple-A Salt Lake, singled twice in four at-bats. He has also played with San Francisco, Atlanta and Seattle this season.
Special pitch: Kazuhiro Nakai, the consul general of Japan in Miami, threw the ceremonial pitch as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration of Japanese baseball. After talking with Ohtani in front of the Angels’ dugout, Nakai put on a Rays home jersey with the No. 150 and a glove, and made his toss from the mound. Leaving the field, he hopped over the first-base line.
Notes: Mike Trout had a scheduled day off. First baseman Jared Walsh was put on the injured list with thoracic outlet syndrome. Infielder Mickey Moniak (broken left middle finger) is taking dry swings.
Up next for the Angels: LHP Reid Detmers (4-4) and Toronto RHP Mitch White (0-1) are Friday night’s starters. A couple of Angels players are not expected to make the trip because Canada prohibits visitors who are not vaccinated from entering the country.