ANAHEIM, Calif. — José Quijada spoiled the home run exploits of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
The Angels’ lefty gave up back-to-back homers in the top of the ninth in the Angels’ 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.
Quijada had only allowed one homer this season before surrendering homers to Kerry Carpenter — barely inside the left field pole — and Ryan Kreidler. It was the first career homer for Kreidler, a product of UCLA.
That spoiled a day in which Trout and Ohtani had hit homers, with Trout’s running his streak to four straight games with a homer and Ohtani snapping a tie with a seventh-inning homer.
The four-game homer streak equaled the longest of Trout’s career, last achieved in April 2017.
Trout and Shohei Ohtani are each on homer binges. Ohtani hit his third homer in the last three games and his sixth homer in the last nine games. Trout has 32 homers and Ohtani has 33.
Ohtani had the day off on Sunday, and he came back with two homers on Monday. That allowed Trout to DH on Sunday, which gave him a half-day off, so he wanted to play instead of take a full day off on Wednesday.
Nevin planned to rest Trout because the Angels are trying to be careful with Trout, who missed more than a month with a back issue. It was a day game after a night game with a first-pitch temperature of 99 degrees. The Angels also have an off day on Thursday, so if Trout sat on Wednesday he’d get a two-for-one that he has said often rejuvenates him.
But Trout said no. He was feeling good, physically and at the plate, and he wanted to play.
Trout’s homer came an inning after the Angels took the lead on a two-run homer from catcher Matt Thaiss, his first of the season.
Thaiss also helped maneuver the Angels pitchers through the game.
Patrick Sandoval lasted five innings and he allowed one run, working around six hits and a walk in his 87-pitch outing.
Sandoval only made it through one inning without allowing a baserunner, but the only run he gave up was a homer by former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson.
Sandoval left with a 3-1 lead. Andrew Wantz allowed the lead to be cut in half when he gave up a homer to Eric Haase on a cutter that barreled in on the right-handed hitter. The Tigers tied the score with a run against Jaime Barria, just before Ohtani gave the Angels their final lead.
