OC Register: Angels’ Reid Detmers snaps out of slump with no-hit bid

[AngelsWin.com]

ARLINGTON, Texas — The rollercoaster of Reid Detmers’ young career took another dramatic change of direction.

Detmers carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of the Angels’ 2-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, just one start after he gave up seven runs in an outing that seemed like it could knock him from the rotation.

Marcus Semien ended Detmers’ bid for the second no-hitter of his career with a one-out double into left-center. Detmers then came out of the game, and the Angels’ bullpen handled the final five outs.

The Angels’ runs came on Shohei Ohtani’s 42nd home run of the season, in the first inning, and an insurance blast from Matt Thaiss in the top of the ninth.

With the victory, the Angels avoided a sweep after they had been outscored 18-3 in the first two games.

A 24-year-old left-hander, Detmers has been one of the Angels’ most enigmatic pitchers. Last year he threw a no-hitter in May, only to be sent to Triple-A in June, only to return in July and pitch well for the rest of the season.

This year he started badly, became the Angels’ best pitcher for a stretch in June, and then he posted a 10.30 ERA during the six-start stretch ending with his discouraging outing last Friday in Houston.

He got the opportunity to get back on the mound even earlier than usual – on just four days of rest – because Ohtani was feeling some arm fatigue and asked to skip a start.

Detmers still might not have gotten the ball on Wednesday if Patrick Sandoval hadn’t gotten knocked out of Monday’s game so quickly that Griffin Canning had to enter in relief. That eliminated Canning from consideration for Wednesday’s start.

Detmers said a day before his start that he and pitching coach Matt Wise diagnosed one of the problems with his mechanics. He needed to stand “taller” in his delivery to get on top of the ball.

“In the last three or four days since my last start, I’ve felt 10 times better,” Detmers said Tuesday.

Detmers issued walks in the first and fourth innings, and Ezequiel Duran reached on a throwing error by shortstop Luis Rengifo in the second.

The defense helped Detmers when center fielder Mickey Moniak made a sliding catch of a Corey Seager line drive to end the third inning. Third baseman Eduardo Escobar made a nice play on a slow hopper from Marcus Semien in the sixth.

That was part of a stretch in which Detmers retired eight in a row, before getting into trouble with two walks in the seventh. He escaped the inning with his 104th pitch.

Manager Phil Nevin gave him a shot to start the eighth, and he got one more out before allowing the Semien hit.

Right-hander Reynaldo López then took the ball. After Seager was intentionally walked, López retired the next two.

Closer Carlos Estévez worked around two singles in the ninth to pick up his 26th save.

More to come on this story.

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[TroutField]

I thought for sure it would say “in angels loss”