Reid Detmers allows grand slam in Angels’ loss to Guardians
CLEVELAND — Reid Detmers’ season has lately turned in the wrong direction.
The Angels left-hander gave up seven runs in a 7-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday, a second straight disappointing outing after beginning his season brilliantly.
Detmers had a 2.12 ERA after his first five starts, but he’s allowed 12 runs in the last two games to double his ERA, to 4.24.
“It was a poor performance,” Detmers said. “No other explanation. Four walks. A lot of hits. Just didn’t execute very well.”
The Angels also lost catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who came out of the game with a right hand contusion. He was hit in the hand by a foul ball in the bottom of the fourth. He remained in the game for one-bat, a strikeout.
O’Hoppe already had an X-ray that confirmed there was no fracture.
“After coming in and getting treatment, it feels much better now,” O’Hoppe said.
He added that he expects to be back in the lineup on Monday, after Sunday’s previously planned day off.
It added up to a disappointing night for the Angels (12-21) on the heels of one of their most impressive victories of the season. The Angels haven’t won back-to-back games in a month.
Detmers gave up three runs in the first five innings on a pair of homers. In the second, he challenged No. 9 hitter Austin Hedges with a 1-and-0 fastball, and Hedges hit into the first row in left field. Two innings later, Detmers threw a first-pitch fastball to Ramon Laureano, who also hit it into the first row.
In the sixth, Detmers walked the first two hitters and then struck out the next two. The Angels wanted Detmers to pitch carefully to right-handed hitting Tyler Freeman because lefty Bo Naylor was up next. Detmers walked Freeman, and then Naylor came to the plate hitting .175, including 1 for 12 with eight strikeouts against lefties.
But Detmers hung a curve ball to Naylor — “right in his honey hole,” Detmers said — and he hit it out for a grand slam.
“In my wildest dream, I would have never thought that was going to happen,” manager Ron Washington said.
That was all for Detmers, whose passable outing turned into a bad one just that quickly.
“It’s frustrating,” Detmers said. “I don’t know. It just comes down to execution. That’s baseball. You have to live and learn. We’re going to get over this, going to get past it. Just have to take it start by start. I’m looking forward to next week, a new challenge. We’ll figure it out in the bullpen and go from there. It obviously hurts. Move on to next week.”
Before the grand slam, the Angels were still trailing because their offense was quiet against right-hander Ben Lively, a 32-year-old journeyman who had a rather pedestrian career until getting off to a strong start this season.
The Angels had four hits in six innings against Lively.
The Angels failed to convert on Willie Calhoun’s leadoff double in the second, and didn’t get anything else going until a two-out rally in the fifth. Three walks and a Zach Neto single produced one run, but Ehire Adrianza hit a fly ball to the warning track to leave the bases loaded.
“I didn’t think (Lively’s stuff) was that good,” Washington said. “But he was able to make some pitches when he had to. He shot some fast balls inside on us. He threw some good changeups. He was able to minimize any damage that we could do.”