BOSTON — After Reid Detmers walked off the mound in the fifth inning at 90 pitches, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki had a conversation with his starting pitcher to get a gauge on whether he could work another inning.
Read more Orange County girls volleyball Top 10: Mater Dei solidifies No. 1 status
“It was pretty simple,” Detmers said. “I told him ‘I’m finishing the sixth inning, no matter what.’ There was no argument. There was nothing. He said OK. He asked how I felt and I said ‘I’m good.’ And that was pretty much that.”
Detmers went back to the mound and tacked on one more inning, reaching a career-high 112 pitches, to complete a scoreless outing in the Angels’ 6-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night, handling the pitching heavy lifting on a night when Zach Neto’s four hits led the offense.
“He was pretty amazing,” Suzuki said. “He attacked from the beginning. Had all his offspeed working, and kept them off balance.”
Detmers only allowed three baserunners – a hit, a walk and a hit batter – but his pitch count climbed because of nine strikeouts and 18 two-strike foul balls.
“That’s kind of what they do,” Detmers said. “They’ve done it all year. And it is frustrating. At the same time my stuff felt really good. It is what it is. They did drive up my pitch count pretty good. They’re just going to keep competing and battling and hopefully it’s a good outcome.”
The outcomes have been excellent for Detmers lately. He has a 1.37 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break. He’s worked at least six innings while allowing one run or no runs in his last six starts in a row, which is a franchise record.
Even though Detmers retired the final 10 hitters he faced, the Red Sox didn’t let him get away easily. Andruw Monasterio worked an 11-pitch at-bat against him in the fifth. In the sixth he had to deal with the top of the order, including lefties Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu. Detmers got through them, even though he ended up throwing more than the 108 pitches he threw during his 2022 no-hitter.
“They have really tough at-bats,” Suzuki said. “They fouled a lot of pitches off tonight. Credit to Det, he didn’t give in. He just kept coming. He kept coming and got them out.”
For the season, Detmers has a 3.32 ERA in 29 starts, with 191 strikeouts. He is on his way to the Angels’ fourth 200-strikeout season in the 21st century. The other pitchers to do it were Jered Weaver (233 in 2010), Shohei Ohtani (219 in 2022) and Ervin Santana (214 in 2008).
Read more Santa Ana Valley football reshapes outlook with commitment to ‘change’
This start fit exactly with Detmers’ season except the Angels (55-90) actually scored a few runs for him.
The Angels scored four runs while Detmers was pitching for the first time since June 21. They did so by chipping away at Patrick Sandoval, a former Angels left-hander.
The Angels had 10 hits in six innings against Sandoval. They could have had done even more damage, but they hit into three double plays with Sandoval on the mound. Two of them came with no outs and runners at the corners, driving in runs.
José Siri and Vaughn Grissom had back-to-back two-out singles in the third to produce the other two runs.
After taking a 4-0 lead in the fifth, the Angels wasted opportunities to expand the lead and the Red Sox got a run against José Fermin in the seventh.
Just when it seemed the Red Sox might have a shot at a comeback against the Angels’ bullpen, Neto provided some insurance with his 24th home run of the season. His two-run blast in the top of the ninth sailed over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street.
It was the second time this season that Neto had at least four hits. He had five hits on Aug. 20.
“It was nice to get some runs for Det,” Suzuki said. “Then added on those two extra in the end with Net hitting that home run too. It was an all-around good game tonight.”
Read more Ballots discounted for late postmarks surged in Washington and Oregon after Postal Service changes