ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Angels
got back to the .500 mark with one of their most impressive offensive
showings of the season. The fact that it came against a pitcher making
his third major league start made no difference to them.
Chris Iannetta hit his fourth career grand slam, Albert Pujols and Matt Joyce also homered and C.J. Wilson pitched two-hit ball over six innings for the Angels in a 12-2 rout over Detroit on Thursday night.
The defending AL West champions, who trail first-place Houston by six games, entered this four-game series with the league's worst team batting average (.234) and on-base percentage (.290).
"As bad as it looks, we're still in a really good spot," Iannetta said. "The majority of last year we were playing .500 ball, then we got hot in little stretches -- and by the end, we had 98 wins."
Wilson (3-3) struck out seven and walked five. The left-hander allowed his only run in the third, hitting two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera on the right foot with the bases loaded after giving up a leadoff single to James McCann and two two-out walks.
"It was a cutter that just seemed to get away from him," Iannetta said. "Obviously, we're not trying to hit him with the bases loaded. It just cut too much. C.J. has a ton of movement on his pitches. They start on the black and then take off. We were getting him to chase right there. It was unfortunate."
Buck Farmer (0-1) made his first start of the season after getting recalled from Triple-A Toledo, and was charged with seven runs and nine hits in five-plus innings. The 24-year-old right-hander, a fifth-round draft pick by the Tigers in 2013, was 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA in nine starts this season with the Mud Hens.
"We didn't really do much. We didn't pitch great, we didn't hit great, and you're not going to win too many games like that," manager Brad Ausmus said. "Buck's last inning obviously cost him some runs, but before that he did OK. Tonight wasn't his best night, but he's still got a chance to be a very good pitcher and he's got some good nights ahead of him."
Pujols gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first with his 529th career home run and ninth this season, driving a 2-2 pitch to left field after a leadoff single by Erick Aybar.
"It felt great, especially when you had a great team on the other side that can do the same thing against your guy," Pujols said. "It was good to give C.J. some run support -- and it's always good to win the first game of a series."
Joyce, who spent his 2008 rookie season with the Tigers before he was traded to Tampa Bay for pitcher Edwin Jackson, drove Farmer's first pitch of the second inning into the old Angels bullpen area in right field for his third homer of the season and second in two nights.
"We didn't have too much information on Farmer -- just a couple of videos of him from last year. But we knew he liked to get on top of the fastball, and we took advantage of it," second baseman Johnny Giavotella said.
"It was great. We have a lot of potential to score a lot of runs every game, and we had great at-bats tonight," he added. "We put a lot of balls in play, and it showed a little preview of what we can do."
Giavotella led off the fifth with a triple and scored on Aybar's squeeze bunt to third baseman Nick Castellanos with the infield in to give the Angels a 4-1 lead. But Aybar, the only Angels player to start every game at the same position this season, pulled his left hamstring running to first base and was replaced at shortstop by Taylor Featherston.
The Angels' first four batters in the sixth reached base against Farmer, who was yanked after Joyce's infield hit with the bases loaded. David Freese scored on Grant Green's groundout, and pinch-runner Kirk Nieuwenhuis came home on Angel Nesbitt's wild pitch to make it 7-1.
The Angels broke it open in the seventh with Freese's bases-loaded RBI single and Iannetta's homer against Tom Gorzelanny.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: Tigers SS Jose Iglesias, who has been bothered by a bruised knee, was in the starting lineup for the first time in five games and was 1 for 3 with an RBI double in the ninth. He was injured in a collision with Houston 1B Chris Carter on Saturday.
Angels: OF Collin Cowgill was placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 26, because of a sprained right wrist. The injury occurred while he was taking batting practice on Sunday.
UP NEXT:
Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-5) has given up seven runs in each of his previous two starts, lasting 3 1/3 innings in an 8-1 loss to Milwaukee on May 19 and 5 2/3 in a no-decision against Houston on Sunday. Both games were in Detroit.
Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (3-3) gave up five earned runs in 26 innings over his last four starts, but had only one win to show for it.
Chris Iannetta hit his fourth career grand slam, Albert Pujols and Matt Joyce also homered and C.J. Wilson pitched two-hit ball over six innings for the Angels in a 12-2 rout over Detroit on Thursday night.
The defending AL West champions, who trail first-place Houston by six games, entered this four-game series with the league's worst team batting average (.234) and on-base percentage (.290).
"As bad as it looks, we're still in a really good spot," Iannetta said. "The majority of last year we were playing .500 ball, then we got hot in little stretches -- and by the end, we had 98 wins."
Wilson (3-3) struck out seven and walked five. The left-hander allowed his only run in the third, hitting two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera on the right foot with the bases loaded after giving up a leadoff single to James McCann and two two-out walks.
"It was a cutter that just seemed to get away from him," Iannetta said. "Obviously, we're not trying to hit him with the bases loaded. It just cut too much. C.J. has a ton of movement on his pitches. They start on the black and then take off. We were getting him to chase right there. It was unfortunate."
Buck Farmer (0-1) made his first start of the season after getting recalled from Triple-A Toledo, and was charged with seven runs and nine hits in five-plus innings. The 24-year-old right-hander, a fifth-round draft pick by the Tigers in 2013, was 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA in nine starts this season with the Mud Hens.
"We didn't really do much. We didn't pitch great, we didn't hit great, and you're not going to win too many games like that," manager Brad Ausmus said. "Buck's last inning obviously cost him some runs, but before that he did OK. Tonight wasn't his best night, but he's still got a chance to be a very good pitcher and he's got some good nights ahead of him."
Pujols gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first with his 529th career home run and ninth this season, driving a 2-2 pitch to left field after a leadoff single by Erick Aybar.
"It felt great, especially when you had a great team on the other side that can do the same thing against your guy," Pujols said. "It was good to give C.J. some run support -- and it's always good to win the first game of a series."
Joyce, who spent his 2008 rookie season with the Tigers before he was traded to Tampa Bay for pitcher Edwin Jackson, drove Farmer's first pitch of the second inning into the old Angels bullpen area in right field for his third homer of the season and second in two nights.
"We didn't have too much information on Farmer -- just a couple of videos of him from last year. But we knew he liked to get on top of the fastball, and we took advantage of it," second baseman Johnny Giavotella said.
"It was great. We have a lot of potential to score a lot of runs every game, and we had great at-bats tonight," he added. "We put a lot of balls in play, and it showed a little preview of what we can do."
Giavotella led off the fifth with a triple and scored on Aybar's squeeze bunt to third baseman Nick Castellanos with the infield in to give the Angels a 4-1 lead. But Aybar, the only Angels player to start every game at the same position this season, pulled his left hamstring running to first base and was replaced at shortstop by Taylor Featherston.
The Angels' first four batters in the sixth reached base against Farmer, who was yanked after Joyce's infield hit with the bases loaded. David Freese scored on Grant Green's groundout, and pinch-runner Kirk Nieuwenhuis came home on Angel Nesbitt's wild pitch to make it 7-1.
The Angels broke it open in the seventh with Freese's bases-loaded RBI single and Iannetta's homer against Tom Gorzelanny.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: Tigers SS Jose Iglesias, who has been bothered by a bruised knee, was in the starting lineup for the first time in five games and was 1 for 3 with an RBI double in the ninth. He was injured in a collision with Houston 1B Chris Carter on Saturday.
Angels: OF Collin Cowgill was placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 26, because of a sprained right wrist. The injury occurred while he was taking batting practice on Sunday.
UP NEXT:
Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-5) has given up seven runs in each of his previous two starts, lasting 3 1/3 innings in an 8-1 loss to Milwaukee on May 19 and 5 2/3 in a no-decision against Houston on Sunday. Both games were in Detroit.
Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (3-3) gave up five earned runs in 26 innings over his last four starts, but had only one win to show for it.
10:05PM,EDT,May 28,2015
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Detroit - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| Davis grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Kinsler walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Cabrera grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Kinsler out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Buck Farmer pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Aybar singled to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Trout grounded out to second, Aybar to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Pujols homered to left (365 feet), Aybar scored. | 0 | 2 |
| Calhoun grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 2 |
| Freese flied out to right. | 0 | 2 |
| 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| Céspedes grounded out to third. | 0 | 2 |
| J.D. Martinez struck out swinging. | 0 | 2 |
| Castellanos lined out to center. | 0 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Buck Farmer pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Joyce homered to right (413 feet). | 0 | 3 |
| Iannetta doubled to deep center. | 0 | 3 |
| Green reached on infield single to third, Iannetta to third. | 0 | 3 |
| Giavotella struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| Aybar grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Green out at second. | 0 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| McCann singled to left. | 0 | 3 |
| Iglesias grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, McCann out at second. | 0 | 3 |
| Gose struck out swinging. | 0 | 3 |
| Davis walked, Iglesias to second. | 0 | 3 |
| Kinsler walked, Iglesias to third, Davis to second. | 0 | 3 |
| Cabrera hit by pitch, Iglesias scored, Davis to third, Kinsler to second. | 1 | 3 |
| Céspedes struck out looking. | 1 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Buck Farmer pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Trout grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 3 |
| Pujols flied out to right. | 1 | 3 |
| Calhoun lined out to first. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| J.D. Martinez flied out to right. | 1 | 3 |
| Castellanos grounded out to third. | 1 | 3 |
| McCann struck out swinging. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Buck Farmer pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Freese flied out to left. | 1 | 3 |
| Joyce grounded out to second. | 1 | 3 |
| Iannetta flied out to center. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| Iglesias walked. | 1 | 3 |
| Gose struck out swinging. | 1 | 3 |
| Davis singled to center, Iglesias to third. | 1 | 3 |
| Kinsler flied out to right. | 1 | 3 |
| Cabrera flied out to center. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Buck Farmer pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Green grounded out to second. | 1 | 3 |
| Giavotella tripled to deep left. | 1 | 3 |
| Aybar sacrificed to third, Giavotella scored. | 1 | 4 |
| Trout grounded out to second. | 1 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| Featherston at shortstop. | 1 | 4 |
| Céspedes struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| J.D. Martinez walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Castellanos struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| McCann grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Buck Farmer pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Pujols walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Calhoun singled to center, Pujols to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Freese singled to left, Pujols to third, Calhoun to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Joyce reached on infield single to first, Pujols scored, Calhoun to third, Freese to second. | 1 | 5 |
| Nesbitt relieved Farmer. | 1 | 5 |
| Nieuwenhuis ran for Joyce. | 1 | 5 |
| Iannetta grounded into fielder's choice to third, Calhoun out at home, Freese to third, Nieuwenhuis to second. | 1 | 5 |
| Green grounded out to second, Freese scored, Nieuwenhuis to third, Iannetta to second. | 1 | 6 |
| Nieuwenhuis scored, Iannetta to third on wild pitch by Nesbitt. | 1 | 7 |
| Giavotella grounded out to third. | 1 | 7 |
| 3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| C.J. Wilson pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| Salas relieved Wilson. | 1 | 7 |
| Iglesias flied out to left. | 1 | 7 |
| Gose grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 7 |
| Davis struck out looking. | 1 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Angel Nesbitt pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Featherston flied out to center. | 1 | 7 |
| Trout doubled to deep right. | 1 | 7 |
| Pujols intentionally walked. | 1 | 7 |
| Gorzelanny relieved Nesbitt. | 1 | 7 |
| Calhoun walked, Trout to third, Pujols to second. | 1 | 7 |
| Freese singled to shallow left, Trout scored, Pujols to third, Calhoun to second, Pujols tagged out at third attempting to advance on play. | 1 | 8 |
| Nieuwenhuis walked, Calhoun to third, Freese to second. | 1 | 8 |
| Iannetta homered to center (395 feet), Calhoun, Freese and Nieuwenhuis scored. | 1 | 12 |
| Green flied out to center. | 1 | 12 |
| 5 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Jose Alvarez pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| Romine hit for Kinsler. | 1 | 12 |
| Romine struck out swinging. | 1 | 12 |
| Pérez hit for Cabrera. | 1 | 12 |
| Pérez popped out to shortstop. | 1 | 12 |
| Céspedes flied out to right. | 1 | 12 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Al Alburquerque pitching for Detroit | DET | LAA |
| Giavotella doubled to deep left. | 1 | 12 |
| Featherston struck out looking. | 1 | 12 |
| Marte grounded out to pitcher, Giavotella to third. | 1 | 12 |
| Pérez hit for Pujols. | 1 | 12 |
| Pérez popped out to third. | 1 | 12 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Jose Alvarez pitching for Los Angeles | DET | LAA |
| J.D. Martinez singled to center. | 1 | 12 |
| Castellanos struck out swinging. | 1 | 12 |
| McCann singled to center, J.D. Martinez to second. | 1 | 12 |
| Iglesias doubled to center, J.D. Martinez scored, McCann to third. | 2 | 12 |
| Gose flied out to left. | 2 | 12 |
| Davis struck out looking. | 2 | 12 |
| 1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Davis DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 22 | .267 | .345 | .400 |
| Kinsler 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | .278 | .357 | .364 |
a-Romine PH-2B
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .351 | .400 | .351 |
| Cabrera 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .329 | .435 | .584 |
b-Pérez PH-1B
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .067 | .097 | .067 |
| Céspedes LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | .285 | .320 | .478 |
Collins LF
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 | .353 | .267 |
| J.D. Martinez RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | .256 | .325 | .456 |
| Castellanos 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | .239 | .288 | .381 |
| McCann C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .290 | .317 | .420 |
| Iglesias SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 | .333 | .391 | .429 |
| Gose CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .329 | .368 | .459 |
| Totals | 31 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 157 | |||
| a-struck out swinging for I Kinsler in the 8th b-popped out to shortstop for M Cabrera in the 8th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Iglesias (5, Álvarez) RBI: Cabrera (33), Iglesias (7) 2-out RBI: Cabrera GIDP: Cabrera Tigers RISP: 1-6 (Céspedes 0-1, Davis 0-1, Gose 0-1, Iglesias 1-1, Cabrera 0-1, Kinsler 0-1) Team LOB: 8 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING DP: 1 (Kinsler-Iglesias-Cabrera). Outfield Assist: Céspedes (Pujols at 3rd base). | ||||||||||
Game Notes
| SS E. AYBAR (HAMSTRING) LEFT GAME TOP 6TH |
Game Information
| Stadium | Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA |
| Attendance | 32,261 (70.9% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:07 |
| Weather | 69 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 5 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Adam Hamari, First Base - Will Little, Second Base - Phil Cuzzi, Third Base - Gerry Davis |
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