ANAHEIM — A night after the Angels intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to load the bases in the ninth inning, they pitched to him.
Neither decision worked out.
Left-hander Mitch Farris threw one pitch to the Houston Astros slugger, and he ripped it into center field for an RBI single, snapping a tie and sending the Angels to a 3-2 loss on Tuesday night.
The Astros had runners at the corners, and pitching coach Mike Maddux came out to talk to Farris. He threw a fastball just below the zone, and Alvarez went down and hammered it 107 mph off the bat to put his team ahead.
A night earlier, with right-hander Sam Bachman on the mound and runners at first and second, the Angels walked Alvarez to have Bachman pitch to the right-handed Isaac Paredes. Bachman hit Paredes at the end of a nine-pitch duel, forcing in the tying run.
“We thought about it (walking Alvarez),” Suzuki said on Tuesday. “At the same time, we knew Farris has really good command. That’s why I had Maddux go out there and talk to him and say ‘Hey, nothing good, nothing even close. If we fall behind him, we’ll just walk him.’ Alvarez got a pitch to hit and smoked it.”
Farris said he wasn’t trying to throw a strike.
“We were going down and away,” Farris said. “I didn’t execute it the best, but it was a ball, below the zone. It could be his hot spot. He’s a good player. Give credit to him.”
The Angels (42-66) wasted another strong outing from Reid Detmers, who gave up two runs in five innings. He struck out nine.
After struggling for a couple of starts before the break, Detmers has a 1.65 ERA since. For the season, he has a 4.03 ERA, with 145 strikeouts in 125 innings.
This was final start before Monday’s MLB trade deadline. The next time he pitches, the rumors will have stopped. Either he’ll know he’s finishing the season with the Angels, or he’ll be wearing a new uniform.
“You see all the stuff,” Detmers said on Tuesday night. “It’s impossible to go on social media and not see it. It is what it is. I know my job is to go out every five days and give them my all and give the team the best chance to win. So that’s where my head is. Whatever they decide to do, that’s what it is. There’s not a whole lot I can control on that side. The only thing I can control is my day every five days.”
In the meantime, it’s difficult not to suspect that the way the Angels have used Detmers over the past few weeks has been with an eye toward protecting him.
Detmers came out after just 84 pitches in five innings on Tuesday night. Detmers has not thrown more than 86 pitches in any of his three starts since the All-Star break, even though he hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of the games.
“I guess it is frustrating to a point, but there’s not a whole lot I can do,” Detmers said. “It’s not my decision. It comes down to Zuk and Maddux. It’s whatever they think. It’s hard to talk them out of it.”
Suzuki said he pulled Detmers because six of the next seven hitters were right-handed, so he brought in the right-handed José Fermin. He had Fermin face four right-handers, and then he brought in left-hander Brent Suter to face the lefty.
Suzuki also used two pitchers to get through the seventh, with right-hander Kirby Yates getting two outs and left-hander Samy Natera Jr. getting the third. Natera pitched a perfect eighth.
With right-handers Bachman, Ryan Zeferjahn and Chase Silseth all unavailable, that left Farris as the only one to pitch the ninth.
The pitchers didn’t get much support from the hitters, who didn’t have a hit after the fifth inning. They went down on just four pitches in the ninth.
Vaughn Grissom drove in a run with a two-out single in the third inning. In the fifth, Mike Trout singled and came all the way around on Jorge Soler’s bloop double down the left-field line.
Soler had two singles and a walk, one of his most productive games in weeks. The Angels would like to be able to trade Soler by the deadline, but his value is low because he’s had a down season.