ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Detroit Tigers avoided a four-game sweep and spoiled some more home run heroics by Shohei Ohtani with a 5-3, 10-inning victory over the Angels before a crowd of 21,626 at Angel Stadium on Sunday.
Ohtani moved into a tie with Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the major league lead with his 23rd homer of the season, a score-tying two-run shot to center field in the fifth inning that gave the two-way star six homers in his last six games.
But the Tigers essentially took the bat out of Ohtani’s hands in the bottom of the 10th, walking him on four pitches with two outs before Tigers reliever Michael Fulmer struck out Taylor Ward to end the game.
Miguel Cabrera opened the top of the 10th with a chopper to the left side that nicked off the glove of Angels closer Raisel Iglesias, giving the pitcher no chance to get runner Jeimer Candelario at third base.
Akil Baddoo walked to load the bases, and Daz Cameron, the son of former big-league center fielder Mike Cameron, rolled a two-run single to center to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead and advance Baddoo to third.
Iglesias won an 11-pitch battle against Nomar Mazara, who lined out. Steve Cishek replaced Iglesias, who ran his pitch count to 39, and walked Isaac Paredes intentionally to load the bases before striking out Jake Rogers and Robbie Grossman swinging to keep the deficit at two.
Ohtani looked overmatched in his first two at-bats against Tigers right-hander Casey Mize, the former Auburn star who was the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, striking out on a 94-mph fastball above the zone in the first inning and whiffing on three pitches — the last a 94-mph fastball above the zone — in the third.
Mize, with David Fletcher (single, wild pitch) on second base and one out in the bottom of the fifth, got ahead of Ohtani again with an 82-mph split-fingered fastball for a ball, an 85-mph slider for a foul ball and an 83-mph splitter for a swinging strike.
After Ohtani fouled off a 92-mph fastball, Mize threw a knee-high 85-mph slider on the outer half of the plate. Ohtani reached down and golfed a 414-foot shot over the center-field wall for a 3-3 tie.
The Tigers had snapped a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth when Rogers doubled to right off Angels starter Dylan Bundy, Jonathan Schoop and Candelario drew one-out walks off reliever Chris Rodriguez and Carbera rolled a two-run single to left field.
Left-hander Jose Suarez replaced Rodriguez and walked Baddoo to load the bases before striking out Cameron swinging at a 93-mph fastball and Mazara looking at a 94-mph fastball on the inside corner to preserve a 3-1 deficit.
Suarez gave up one hit in a scoreless sixth and retired three straight—Cabrera (groundout), Baddoo (infield fly) and Cameron (strikeout looking)—after Candelario’s leadoff double in the sixth, his 2 2/3-inning, two-hit, one-strikeout, 52-pitch relief effort to keep the game even.
Mike Mayers struck out one in a scoreless eighth, and Iglesias struck out two in a scoreless ninth for the Angels.
