Vaughn Grissom's grand slam leads Angels to 4th consecutive victory

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on May 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — Angels manager Kurt Suzuki had a prophetic comment about Vaughn Grissom hours before Tuesday’s game.

The infielder had been struggling for about a week, but Suzuki said he still liked how he was hitting the ball, and that “it’ll turn soon.”

By the end of the night, Grissom had three hits, including a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 10-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

The Angels (21-34) have won four in a row for the first time this season.

In this game, the hitters picked up starter Jack Kochanowicz, who was charged with three runs in the fifth inning and five in the game.

After struggling to produce in the clutch for most of the first two months of the season, the Angels have been doing better lately. On Tuesday night they were 6 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

Grissom had two of those hits, driving in a career-high six runs. His three-hit night gave him one more hit than he had in his previous 28 at-bats. Grissom was nonetheless batting in the No. 3 spot, with Nolan Schanuel nursing a sore calf, so he had several opportunities to drive in runs.

In the third inning, Grissom came up with runners at first and second. Zach Neto got a huge jump from first as Grissom hit a hard ground ball through the middle. Neto never slowed down and scored when the Tigers were too slow getting the ball in from the outfield.

Grissom added another single in the seventh, but his big moment was coming in the eighth.

Down by two when the inning began, the Angels put together a two-out rally. Logan O’Hoppe’s double off the wall — his second hit of the game — drove in one run. Neto then singled when his comebacker deflected off pitcher Will Vest. Mike Trout was walked, loading the bases for Grissom.

Grissom got ahead, 2-and-0, and then Vest poured a fastball over the outer half of the plate. Grissom hit it toward the cavernous right-center field gap at Comerica Park. The ball cleared the top of the wall by about six feet, as Grissom pumped his fist rounding first base.

Right-handers Chase Silseth and Kirby Yates then worked the last two innings, with José Siri’s homer in between providing an insurance run for Yates. (He might not have wanted the insurance run, since it denied him a chance to pick up his 100th career save.)

The late rally spared Kochanowicz, who continues to struggle with one bad inning in most of his games. He has allowed 20 earned runs in 20 innings in his last four starts, and 13 of them have scored during three innings.

Kochanowicz got off to a decent start, despite getting hit in the foot by a sharp comebacker. The Angels came out to check on him twice, a second time after he threw a pitch about five feet out of the strike zone. Kochanowicz remained in the game, though.

In the first four innings he gave up two runs, but he had thrown only 52 pitches. He struck out four and hadn’t walked anyone, although he hit one batter.

In the fifth, though, he couldn’t get an out. The inning started with a bloop single from Matt Vierling, and then Kochanowicz walked No. 9 hitter Wenceel Perez. Kevin McGonigle punched a ground ball inside the first base line, for a two-run triple, tying the score. Kochanowicz then walked Dillon Dingler, ending his day.

The Angels were clinging to a 4-3 lead when left-hander Mitch Farris entered. He allowed one more run to score on a single before escaping the inning with the Angels down 5-4.