ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Detroit Tigers have been mostly miserable at Angel Stadium over the past several years, losing seven consecutive series and struggling for even the smallest wins.
Giving a five-run lead to Michael Fulmer before he takes the mound in the second inning is a pretty good way to fix those woes.
Justin Upton hit a three-run homer and Fulmer pitched seven innings of three-hit ball in the Tigers' 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Andrew Romine hit a two-run homer as the Tigers got a rare win over the Angels in the opener of a four-game series at the Big A, where Detroit hasn't won a series since August 2009. The Tigers also improved to 7-23 against Los Angeles since September 2012.
"That's one game, and we're not concerned about last year," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said.
Still, the Tigers put together a comprehensive effort to improve to 3-3 on their nine-game West Coast road trip. Upton connected with two outs in the first inning for his seventh homer of the season, and the Tigers were never threatened.
Fulmer (4-1) was largely outstanding, walking two and striking out seven to improve to 3-0 in his last four starts.
"My goal is to get deep into games and throw strikes and not give up quality contact," Fulmer said.
Yunel Escobar had an RBI double for the Angels, who opened a seven-game homestand with their seventh loss in nine games.
TROUTBACK
Mike Trout went 0 for 4 as the Angels' designated hitter after missing five straight games and six of the previous seven with a tight left hamstring -- the most significant injury to date in his spectacular big-league career.
"It wasn't fun," Trout said of sitting out. "You want to be out there. ... I missed some pitches tonight, fouled off some I should hit, but that's baseball."
The two-time AL MVP hadn't played since last Friday, and his 17-game hitting streak ended. But he also felt strong on his legs while sprinting to run out two early ground balls, raising his confidence in his ability to return to center field Friday.
"Felt good," Trout said. "(The ground balls) clear your mind a little bit. Haven't done anything that speed in six days, but it felt fine."
RAMIREZ'S SLOW START
J.C. Ramirez (3-3) settled down to yield eight hits over seven innings, but couldn't overcome early mistakes that allowed Detroit to lead 5-0 after its first eight batters. Ramirez retired 10 straight Tigers and allowed just one runner past first base in his final five innings.
"It really came down to a couple of early pitches," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. "Outside of that, he settled in and threw the ball the way we expected. Once Fulmer got a lead, he's got strong stuff, and he pitched a good game for them."
ADDUCI INJURED
Romine was a late addition to the Tigers' lineup when Jim Adduci was scratched with a right oblique muscle injury, and he promptly hit his second homer of the season in the second inning. Ausmus said Adduci is probably headed to the disabled list, and injured outfielder J.D. Martinez is expected to join the Tigers in Anaheim on Friday. Martinez hasn't played yet this season after spraining his foot in spring training.
SLUMPING
The Angels benched 2B Danny Espinosa, who is mired in an 0-for-34 slump. Cliff Pennington started in Espinosa's place for the fifth time in nine games.
"We've got a handful of guys in our lineup that are struggling for rhythm," Scioscia said. "We know we'll be better."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: 2B Ian Kinsler returned to the leadoff spot after missing five games with left hamstring tightness. He went 3 for 4 and scored two runs.
Angels: With Trout as the DH, Albert Pujols played first base. The slugger was charged with an error in the second inning when he couldn't snag a high throw from Andrelton Simmons.
UP NEXT
Tigers: Jordan Zimmermann (3-1, 6.21 ERA) is getting results despite allowing 23 runs in 33 1/3 innings. He has made just one career start against the Angels, losing a four-hitter on an unearned run in Anaheim in June 2011.
Angels: Matt Shoemaker (1-2, 5.21 ERA) has a 1.01 career ERA against Detroit, but the Wyandotte, Michigan, native lost to the Tigers for the first time in his career last June in Anaheim.
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More AP baseball: www.apnews.com/tags/MLBbaseball





Final
Series: Game 1 of 4

Tigers 7

(17-16, 8-9 away)

Angels 1

(17-20, 10-7 home)







10:07PM,EDT,May 11,2017
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim,California 

123456789 R H E
DET 320000011 7 11 1
LAA 000010000 1 4 1
W: M. Fulmer (4-1)
L: J. Ramirez (3-3)





View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Detroit - Top of 1stSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
Kinsler singled to center.00
Castellanos singled to right, Kinsler to second.00
Cabrera struck out looking.00
V. Martínez flied out to left.00
Upton homered to center (430 feet), Kinsler and Castellanos scored.30
Collins flied out to center.30
3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 1stSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Escobar grounded out to shortstop.30
Calhoun struck out swinging.30
Trout grounded out to shortstop.30
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 2ndSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
McCann singled to left.30
Romine homered to right (368 feet), McCann scored.50
Iglesias grounded out to pitcher.50
Kinsler singled to left.50
Castellanos struck out looking.50
Cabrera safe at first on error by first baseman Pujols, Kinsler to second.50
V. Martínez flied out to left.50
2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Pujols grounded out to first.50
Maybin struck out looking.50
Revere grounded out to shortstop.50
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 3rdSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
Upton lined out to second.50
Collins flied out to left.50
McCann singled to right.50
Romine walked, McCann to second.50
Iglesias lined out to right.50
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Simmons grounded out to second.50
Maldonado struck out swinging.50
Pennington singled to left.50
Escobar reached on infield single to shortstop, Pennington to second.50
Calhoun struck out swinging.50
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 4thSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
Kinsler grounded out to second.50
Castellanos struck out looking.50
Cabrera grounded out to third.50
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 4thSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Trout grounded out to second.50
Pujols grounded out to shortstop.50
Maybin walked.50
Revere grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Maybin out at second.50
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 5thSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
V. Martínez flied out to right.50
Upton struck out swinging.50
Collins grounded out to shortstop.50
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 5thSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Simmons grounded out to shortstop.50
Maldonado struck out swinging.50
Pennington walked.50
Escobar doubled to deep right, Pennington scored.51
Calhoun popped out to first.51
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 6thSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
McCann grounded out to second.51
Romine grounded out to shortstop.51
Iglesias lined out to second.51
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 6thSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Trout fouled out to third.51
Pujols grounded out to third.51
Maybin struck out looking.51
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 7thSCORE
JC Ramirez pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
Kinsler singled to shallow center.51
Castellanos flied out to right.51
Cabrera grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Kinsler out at second.51
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 7thSCORE
Michael Fulmer pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Revere grounded out to shortstop.51
Simmons popped out to second.51
Maldonado hit by pitch.51
Pennington struck out swinging.51
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 8thSCORE
Deolis Guerra pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
Guerra relieved Ramírez.51
V. Martínez doubled to deep center.51
V. Martínez to third on wild pitch by Guerra.51
Upton struck out swinging.51
Collins lined out to center.51
McCann doubled to deep left, V. Martínez scored.61
Romine fouled out to third.61
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Shane Greene pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Greene relieved Fulmer.61
Escobar singled to right.61
Calhoun struck out swinging.61
Trout flied out to right.61
Pujols struck out swinging.61
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Detroit - Top of 9thSCORE
Keynan Middleton pitching for Los AngelesDETLAA
Middleton relieved Guerra.61
Iglesias struck out swinging.61
Kinsler walked.61
Castellanos walked, Kinsler to second.61
Cabrera singled to left, Kinsler scored, Castellanos to second, Castellanos to third advancing on throw.71
Castellanos out at home on runner's fielder's choice, Cabrera to second on runner's fielder's choice.71
V. Martínez walked.71
Upton struck out swinging.71
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Los Angeles - Bottom of 9thSCORE
Francisco Rodriguez pitching for DetroitDETLAA
Rodríguez relieved Greene.71
Maybin grounded out to shortstop.71
Revere grounded out to shortstop.71
Simmons safe at first on error by second baseman Kinsler.71
Valbuena hit for Maldonado.71
Valbuena grounded out to first.71
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors



Detroit Tigers

HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Kinsler 2B42301019.228.350.366
Castellanos 3B41101220.248.322.436
Cabrera 1B50110119.258.347.438
V. Martínez DH41101018.270.333.339
Upton LF51130323.262.377.515
Collins RF40000015.233.296.333
McCann C41310011.195.300.481
Romine CF31121016.244.311.415
Iglesias SS40000112.220.245.352
Totals37711747153   
BATTING
2B: V. Martínez (5, Guerra); McCann (1, Guerra)
HR: Upton (7, 1st inning off Ramírez 2 on, 2 Out); Romine (2, 2nd inning off Ramírez 1 on, 0 Out)
RBI: Upton 3 (19), Romine 2 (10), McCann (16), Cabrera (14)
2-out RBI: Upton 3, McCann
GIDP: Cabrera
Tigers RISP: 3-11 (Cabrera 1-2, V. Martínez 0-2, McCann 1-1, Collins 0-1, Iglesias 0-1, Upton 1-3, Romine 0-1)
Team LOB: 7
FIELDING
E: Kinsler (1, ground ball)

Game Notes

RF ADDUCI (RIGHT OBLIQUE) SCRATCHED FROM STARTING LINEUP

Game Information

StadiumAngel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
Attendance30,207 (66.4% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time3:00
Weather71 degrees, clear
Wind6 mph
UmpiresHome Plate - Mike Winters, First Base - Mark Wegner, Second Base - Mike Muchlinski, Third Base - Marty Foster