Logan O’Hoppe’s tiebreaking three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif.
The win extended the Angels’ season-long winning streak to five games, while the Tigers lost their third straight.
Luis Rengifo, who homered in the first inning, started the winning rally with a one-out single. He went to second on a Taylor Ward single before Kevin Pillar struck out for the second out.
Up stepped O’Hoppe, who jumped on a first-pitch splitter from Tigers reliever Shelby Miller (4-6) for his 11th homer of the season, a 418-foot shot to left.
The Angels’ bullpen stepped up in relief of starter Zach Plesac, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings. Five relievers combined to shut out the Tigers on one hit in 6 1/3 innings.
Luis Garcia (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth to get the win and Carlos Estevez needed just nine pitches to record his 16th save.
The Angels took the lead in the first, getting a leadoff single from Nolan Schanuel and a two-run homer by Rengifo off Tigers starter Kenta Maeda.
Plesac was sharp at the outset, retiring the first eight batters. The Tigers got their first baserunner on Ryan Kreidler’s two-out single in the third before Plesac completely lost the strike zone.
Plesac walked the next four batters, the last two forcing home a run to tie the game at 2.
During those four plate appearances, Plesac threw 16 balls and only four strikes, marking a swift end to his outing.
Maeda settled in and got through 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out four on 87 pitches.
Rengifo, Ward and Luis Guillorme each had two hits for the Angels.
–Field Level Media