Angels drop pitchers’ duel in extra innings in home opener

ANAHEIM, Calif. — In what was the best showing of the season for the Angels’ pitching staff, it was simultaneously the worst for the lineup.

The bats only produced one hit and only had a runner in scoring position because they had to, per extra-inning rules. On the mound, the staff tossed nine shutout innings before letting the game slip away in extras. 

The Angels (3-5) had no answers for the Seattle Mariners’ (4-4) pitching staff in a 3-1 loss in 10 innings on Friday night. 

Left-hander Reid Detmers turned in his longest start since April 22, 2024, pitching 6 ⅔ innings of shutout ball. He allowed three hits and struck out four, but also walked four. 

“I thought he was great, under control, executed, made pitches, freaking pitched his butt off,” Suzuki said. “It was nice to see him rebound from the last one and really have a good start.

“I felt like he was pretty efficient putting guys away when he was getting ahead and getting some soft contact early in counts to allow him to go deeper in the game.”

Detmers’ velocity was a tick higher in this start compared to his first outing of the season in Houston. His average fastball velocity was 93.6 miles per hour last week and was 94.4 miles per hour Friday night. 

All of Detmers’ pitches were thrown for strikes over 50% of the time, and his primary pitches were the two pitches most thrown for strikes. His fastball and slider were strikes at a 63% and 67% clips. 

“Commanding all the pitches obviously is huge, but getting the fastball down and playing everything off that makes a huge difference,” Detmers said.

The bullpen was also lights out for the Angels, with right-hander Chase Silseth punching out second baseman Cole Young to escape the seventh inning, and then left-hander Drew Pomeranz and right-hander Jordan Romano each tossing a scoreless inning. 

Things fell apart in extra innings, as left-hander Brent Suter gave up three runs in the 10th inning. A lead-off triple by Young scored the game’s first run, then an intentional walk to outfielder Julio Rodríguez and back-to-back singles by first baseman Josh Naylor and leftfielder Randy Arozarena brought in another two runs. 

As for the Angels hitters, they only had four batters reach base before the extra-inning ghost runner on second base in the 10th inning, which was also the first Angel to reach scoring position on the night. Second baseman Oswald Peraza was the lone hit for the Angels.

First baseman Nolan Schanuel grounded out to lead off the 10th, sending centerfielder Mike Trout to third base. Designated hitter Jorge Soler hit a sacrifice fly to score the Angels’ only run.

Right-hander Bryan Woo dazzled for seven scoreless innings to extinguish the excitement of the home opener at The Big A. 

“The guy’s one of the best starters in the league,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He was on his game tonight, he pitched well, and when a guy like that pitches well, you just got to do your best and battle. I felt like our guys were battling, just couldn’t muster anything up.”

Angels on the Mend

Ahead of Friday night’s home opener, Suzuki gave updates on a plethora of Angels recovering from injuries.

Right-hander Ben Joyce (shoulder surgery) is throwing normal bullpens without any limitations, but it’s not known when he’ll start facing live hitters. 

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (dead arm) has been doing his normal catch-playing progression and is feeling good while “taking it nice and easy.”

Right-hander Kirby Yates (left knee inflammation) threw a bullpen while the team was in Chicago and feels good physically, although Suzuki mentioned it was his first bullpen in a couple of weeks, so Yates was rusty.

Infielder Vaughn Grissom (left wrist sprain) is 4-for-7 to start his rehab assignment in Triple-A Salt Lake and Suzuki said Grissom is feeling good. Since Grissom missed a significant portion of spring training, Suzuki said they’re building him up slowly and will have him play all his positions before they make any decisions to activate him. 

Right-hander Alek Manoah has been throwing bullpens in Arizona and can now throw all his pitches after dealing with a nasty blister that resulted in him losing part of his fingernail.