ANAHEIM, Calif. — The rally came too late for starter Reid Detmers to get a victory he deserved, but not too late for the Angels to get a victory they needed.
Mike Trout raced home with the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Angels a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
The Angels picked up a victory after losing four of five games last week, including two of three against the last-place Colorado Rockies.
For much of the night, the only offense the Angels could muster came on Shohei Ohtani’s major league-leading 26th homer, a 446-foot shot in the fourth inning.
Trout and Ohtani drew back-to-back walks to start the ninth, and then both moved up on a double steal. Brandon Drury struck out. With Mike Moustakas at the plate, an Aaron Bummer pitch got past catcher Yasmani Grandal as Trout sprinted home, sliding head-first across the plate.
Detmers ended up with a no-decision after he gave up one run in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 1.05 in his last four starts.
Detmers struck out 10, making him the third pitcher in Angels history to have four straight starts allowing one run or fewer with eight strikeouts or more. Ohtani and Nolan Ryan, who did it twice, are the others.
The streak has helped Detmers cut his season ERA to 3.77, which is exactly what it was during his breakout rookie season in 2022.
Many figured Detmers would be even better this season, in part because he had added velocity to his best pitch, his slider. Lately, though, Detmers has been throwing his slider with less velocity at times, which he said gives the hitters more of a mix to keep them off balance.
On Monday night he gave up a homer to Luis Robert Jr. in the first inning, but he retired everyone else in the first four innings. In the fifth, he gave up a leadoff single and then a walk, but he responded with three straight strikeouts.
Detmers pitched a perfect sixth and then worked around a one-out walk to get through the seventh with 105 pitches.
Jacob Webb pitched a perfect eighth and then closer Carlos Estévez got through the ninth with the help of a double play, setting up the Angels for the winning rally in the bottom of the inning.
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