ARLINGTON, Texas — A nice performance by Reid Detmers was erased within a span of a couple minutes with Jimmy Herget on the mound.
Not long after Detmers escaped a jam to get through the sixth inning, Herget allowed three runs in the seventh on back-to-back homers, sending the Angels to a 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
Entering in a 1-1 game, Herget hung a change-up to Marcus Semien, who banked it off the left-field pole for a two-run homer. Herget’s next pitch was a slider that Corey Seager hit out to right field. The Rangers then padded the lead with two runs against Tucker Davidson in the eighth.
Bullpen performances like that have been rare during the Angels resurgence this month, but the relievers have been worked so much that some of their most reliable arms were unavailable.
The thin bullpen was likely the reason that manager Phil Nevin gave Detmers an opportunity to try to push through a barrier that has caused him so much trouble this season.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, Detmers had allowed a 1.271 OPS when facing hitters for the third time in a game. Several times this season he’s sailed through the game for the first four or five innings, only to implode when the lineup flips.
This time Detmers held the Rangers to just a solo homer over five innings, facing exactly 18 batters.
Detmers faced the top of the order for third time when he started the sixth, and the Angels needed him to at least get through that inning because their bullpen had a few key relievers unavailable.
Detmers loaded the bases with one out on a hit and two walks before anyone even started to throw in the bullpen. He then struck out both Josh Jung and Jonah Heim to get out of the inning.
That was only good enough to preserve a tie, though, because the Angels wasted numerous opportunities early against Andrew Heaney and then their bats went silent.
The Angels left eight runners on base in the first four innings, and then didn’t even have another baserunner until Luis Rengifo drew a two-out walk in the eighth, after they were down 4-1.
The Angels’ lineup was also weakened when shortstop Zach Neto left the game in the second inning with what the Angels described as left side tightness.
