Angels erase 5-run deficit before losing to Rangers in 9th
Published in Baseball
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Angels turned an ugly loss into an agonizing one.
After rallying from a five-run deficit in the seventh inning to tie the score, the Angels ended up losing anyway, falling to the Texas Rangers, 7-6, when right-hander Kirby Yates gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday night.
Instead of lamenting that starting pitcher Reid Detmers had a bad game and the offense did nothing, which seemed to be the story for the first six innings, the Angels came to life with five runs in the seventh.
They couldn’t push home the go-ahead run, though. They left two runners on in the seventh and two more in the ninth.
Yates, who has pitched well for the past month, gave up a leadoff single to No. 9 hitter Alejandro Osuna. The Rangers bunted him into scoring position. Wyatt Langford then hit one off the fence to drive in the winning run.
The Angels were down, 5-1, when Detmers left the mound in the fourth inning and they were down by five when the offense finally woke up.
Through six innings they had one run against Nathan Eovaldi, and they had struck out 10 times. The seventh began with Denzer Guzman reaching on catcher’s interference. The Angels then chased Eovaldi when Logan O’Hoppe walked and Wade Meckler singled, driving in a run as the top of the order came to the plate.
Zach Neto walked, loading the bases. After Mike Trout grounded into a force at the plate, Nolan Schanuel singled — one of his four hits — to drive in two. Jorge Soler knocked in one with a hit.
An out later, pinch-hitter Jo Adell singled, tying the game at 6-6.
The rally took Detmers off the hook for a loss on a night when his struggles continued.
Detmers gave up five runs on three homers in four innings, lifting his ERA to 7.40 over his past four starts.
Detmers gave up two runs on three hits in the first inning, which was one more run and two more hits than he allowed in eight innings of a brilliant performance against the Rangers on May 24.
In that game, Detmers gave up a solo homer and he retired the other 24 hitters, with 14 strikeouts. It was easily the best performance of his career besides his 2022 no-hitter.
That game was the beginning of a five-start stretch in which Detmers had a 1.36 ERA, with 39 strikeouts and five walks. It was amid that run that the idea circulated that he could be the trade piece the Angels use to rebuild their farm system.
Now, it’s uncertain.
Detmers’ peripheral stats — most notably 123 strikeouts in 108 2/3 innings — and the fact that he has two years of club control beyond this one will still have teams interested. However, the buyers might not be as willing to part with the quality of prospects the Angels would like.
In this outing, command was his primary problem.
The three hits he allowed in the first inning, including a Brandon Nimmo homer, all came on pitches right over the middle of the plate.
In the third inning, Detmers threw Ezequiel Duran a 2-and-1 fastball over the middle, the drilled a two-run homer over the fence in center.
The pitch that Justin Foscue hit out in the fourth was at the knees. Detmers struck out the other three hitters in the inning, finishing the game with six.
All three homers Detmers allowed came with two outs.
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