BOSTON — A season after Reid Detmers came up 16 victories short of his publicly stated goal of 20, the Angels’ left-hander is off to a much better start.
Detmers worked 6⅓ innings in the Angels’ 7-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Detmers is the first Angels pitcher since Jered Weaver in 2011 to earn the victory in his first three games of the season. Detmers has allowed two earned runs in 17⅓ innings, good for an ERA of 1.04.
Detmers struck out seven and walked two, throwing 64 strikes among his 98 pitches.
The Angels turned double plays to help him get through the first two innings, and after that he was on cruise control. Detmers retired 14 of the last 16 hitters he faced.
The Angels (7-6) gave Detmers a 3-0 lead before he threw his first pitch, thanks in part to Boston’s sloppy defense.
With runners at first and second and no outs, Mike Trout hit a ground ball to shortstop David Hamilton. It should have been a double play, but Hamilton’s throw to second was high and the Red Sox didn’t get any outs.
Taylor Ward then hit a grounder to second baseman Pablo Reyes, who also could have started a double play if he hadn’t bobbled it, settling for one out.
In the third, the Angels scored a run when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made a throwing error.
Besides the Boston errors, the Angels also had 12 hits, including Ward’s fourth homer of the season. He hit a two-run shot over the Green Monster in the sixth inning.
Zach Neto drilled a 110-mph line drive off the fence in center field. Antony Rendon, Aaron Hicks and Nolan Schanuel – who all brought sub-.200 batting averages into the game – had two hits apiece.
Everyone in the Angels’ starting lineup had at least one hit.
Angels relievers also did the job. Luis Garcia, José Cisnero and Hunter Strickland collaborated on the final eight outs without allowing a hit.
More to come on this story.
Read the full article here
