ANAHEIM — Better than a fruitcake, more versatile than an ugly sweater and more desired than a pair of pajamas, Angels left-hander Reid Detmers instead gifted his teammates Thursday with one of his better outings of the season.
During a “Christmas in June” promotion, Detmers gave up one run over 5-1/3 innings, Jo Adell hit a home run in his first at-bat of the season and the Angels finished off a merry three-game sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
The success, and Detmers’ role in it, was much needed. The Angels had just returned home following a four-game series at Houston when they were outclassed by the Astros while losing three times. They had lost seven of 10 when the Cubs came to town.
In his 11th start of the season, Detmers (1-5) earned a win for the first time, giving up one run on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. It was shades of a May 19 outing against the Minnesota Twins, when he struck out 12 in 5-2/3 innings of a no-decision in a game the Angels ended up winning, 5-4.
With the outing, Detmers’ ERA dropped to 4.79, the lowest it has been since it was at 4.15 after giving up two earned runs in an April 23 start against the Kansas City Royals. It was also the first time Detmers had allowed less than two earned runs in an outing all season.
If not for a wild pitch that allowed Miguel Amaya to move to second base in the second inning, followed by a Trey Mancini RBI double, Detmers could have delivered his first scoreless outing since Aug. 26 of last season.
The Angels’ offense erased the deficit in the bottom of the second inning. Adell hit the second pitch he saw from Cubs lefty Drew Smyly deep to left field in a blast recorded at 451 feet. It was his first major league home run since Sept. 30 of last season and came after he hit 18 home runs over the first two months at Triple-A Salt Lake.
Luis Rengifo and Chad Wallach followed Adell with singles and Taylor Ward added a sacrifice fly to score Rengifo for a 2-1 advantage.
The Angels made it 3-1 in the sixth inning after rookie Zach Neto singled and went to second on a Ward walk. He scored on a double steal with Ward when Cubs catcher Yan Gomes misfired his throw to second in an attempt to cut down Ward.
It was a dominating series by the Angels’ bullpen, which delivered 11-1/3 scoreless innings. Chris Devenski followed Detmers with 1-1/3 innings, Jose Soriano pitched a scoreless eighth and Carlos Estevez pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 16 chances. Devenski hasn’t given up a run over his last eight appearances (10 innings).
More to come on this story.
Jo Adell was aiming for the stars with this moonshot! pic.twitter.com/c6JMiZrrvn
— MLB (@MLB) June 9, 2023
Jo Adell sounds off on tonight’s W @EricaLWeston | @Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/wjuTN0Q0jA
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) June 9, 2023
@Angels | #GoHalos | #LTBU pic.twitter.com/m8HilHuTnb
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) June 9, 2023