Tigers rally past Angels with two-run ninth inning
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Interstat) — The Detroit Tigers scored twice in the ninth inning Friday night to erase a one-run deficit and beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, snapping a two-game skid and improving to 45-52.
Keider Montero earned the win, throwing a scoreless inning of relief to improve to 6-5. Kirby Yates took the loss for the Angels, falling to 0-5 after allowing two runs on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
The Angels struck first in the bottom of the first. Zach Neto led off with a single, moved to second on a walk to Nolan Schanuel and to third on a walk to Jorge Soler. Josh Lowe then grounded out to second base, scoring Neto and giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead. The Angels managed only four more hits the rest of the game.
Detroit’s offense struggled against Angels starter Reid Detmers, who pitched six shutout innings while allowing four hits and striking out seven. The Tigers put only one runner in scoring position through the first five innings — Ben Malgeri’s double in the fifth — but could not bring him home.
Riley Greene doubled in the fourth but was left stranded. The Tigers went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position over the first eight innings against Detmers and relievers Sam Bachman and Ryan Zeferjahn.
Bachman struck out three in a scoreless seventh, and Zeferjahn struck out two in a scoreless eighth, preserving the Angels’ 1-0 lead.
The Tigers finally broke through in the ninth. Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning against Yates. Spencer Torkelson flied out to left field, and Riley Greene walked, putting runners at first and second. Kerry Carpenter then flied out to left, bringing up Hao-Yu Lee with two outs.
Lee ripped a sharp line drive to center field that Mike Trout could not cut off. The ball rolled to the wall, and both Dingler and Greene scored as Lee slid into second with a double. A replay review upheld the call that the ball stayed in play. Jake Rogers flied out to center to end the inning, but the Tigers had taken a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Angels rallied. Jorge Soler was hit by a pitch, and Jose Siri singled to put runners at first and second. But Jo Adell popped out on the infield fly rule, and Oswald Peraza grounded out to third, moving the runners to second and third. Denzer Guzman then grounded out to shortstop to end the game.
Detroit finished with six hits. Matt Vierling had two singles, and Malgeri, Greene and Lee each doubled. Lee’s double was the decisive blow.
The Angels managed five hits. Neto went 2 for 4, and Vaughn Grissom went 1 for 2 with a walk. Trout doubled in the third but was left on base. Soler went 0 for 2 with two walks and a hit by pitch, and Adell finished 0 for 4. The Angels struck out 14 times, with Montero striking out two in his scoreless inning.
Attendance was 29,536, and the game lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.
The Angels fell to 38-60 with the loss. Detroit improved to 45-52 and will play the second game of the three-game series Saturday.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Detroit 5, Los Angeles 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Detroit a 57.00 percent probability to win. Detroit was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 3 runs went over the over-under line of 8.5.