ANAHEIM — Reid Detmers insists he treats every game the same no matter the circumstances.
Still, it’s hard not to notice he’s been pitching at a different level since the Angels returned home after the trade deadline.
Detmers pitched eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts, Nolan Schanuel broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the eighth, and the Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 1-0, on Saturday night at Angel Stadium to pick up their fourth win in their last five games.
Detmers allowed just two hits, both singles, and faced just one batter over the minimum. He threw just 92 pitches, 68 for strikes, and didn’t allow a Royals baserunner past second base.
In his first two home starts since the Angels opted to keep him at the trade deadline, Detmers has allowed five hits and one run in 14 innings.
Detmers had his best stuff going from the outset. He retired the first 11 hitters he faced, six via strikeout, and didn’t allow a hit until Jac Caglianone’s two-out single in the fourth. Caglianone stole second to give the Royals a runner in scoring position, but Detmers calmly got Salvador Perez to fly out to right to end the mild threat.
He only got stronger as the game wore on.
He allowed only one other hit, a one-out single by Michael Massey in the fifth, and promptly erased it by inducing a 1-6-3 double play. He retired the side in order in the sixth on just nine pitches. In the seventh, facing the heart of the Royals order, Detmers struck out Bobby Witt Jr., Caglianone and Salvador Perez in quick succession. In the eighth, he finished off an eight-pitch at-bat by blowing a 93.4. mph fastball by Starling Marte for a swinging strikeout to conclude a 1-2-3 inning.
Detmers got swings and misses with all four of his pitches—fastball, curveball, slider and changeup — and got 18 swings and misses overall, his second-most this season.
The Angels offense failed to give him much support early. Facing journeyman right-hander Randy Dobnak, the Angels stranded runners in each of the first three innings to keep the game scoreless. Their best chance came in the fifth, when Schanuel hit a one-out single and Zach Neto followed with a walk to put runners on first and second with one out.
But Dobnak got Moises Ballesteros to fly out to left and veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel entered and induced a Josh Lowe flyout to right to end the inning, keeping the scoreless tie intact.
After coming up empty all game, the Angels finally broke the scoreless tie in the eighth. Wade Meckler drew a leadoff walk and was pinch-run for by Jose Siri. Siri stole second to move into scoring position, and Nolan Schanuel ripped a hard grounder that deflected off the glove of diving first baseman Jac Caglianone into right field, allowing Siri to score easily.
Ben Joyce closed the door in the ninth, retiring the Royals for his second save.
More to come on this story.