Taylor Ward drives in three runs to power Angels to comeback win over Tigers
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DETROIT — Taylor Ward homered and fell a triple short of the cycle, driving in three runs to help the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Saturday night.
Ward had an RBI double in the first, singled and scored in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the fifth. He grounded out in the seventh.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (6-7) gave up four runs in five innings. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 21st save and his career-best 20th consecutive outing without conceding an earned run.
Matt Vierling hits a three-run homer off Reid Detmers in the eighth inning to help lift the Detroit Tigers to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Angels.
Detroit’s Charlie Morton (7-10) matched a season high with 10 strikeouts, but the 41-year-old gave up six runs on seven hits in 4⅓ innings.
The Angels (56-61) took a 1-0 lead in the first on Ward’s RBI double, and the Tigers (67-51) got two in the second on Andy Ibáñez’s RBI single and Jake Rogers’ sacrifice fly.
Morton struck out seven straight after Ward’s double, with Mike Trout breaking the streak with a leadoff groundout in the fourth. Ward singled, Morton hit Yoán Moncada, and Jo Adell hit a three-run homer to make it 4-2.
The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning on Matt Vierling’s sacrifice fly and Gleyber Torres’s RBI double.
Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel hit the go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combine to strike out 16 Angels.
Ward ended Morton’s night with a two-run homer in the fifth. Luis Rengifo made it 7-4 with a homer in the eighth.
Key moment: Trailing 6-4, the Tigers had runners on first and second with no one out in the sixth, but Kikuchi struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter and got Torres to ground out.
Key stat: Moncada was Morton’s 11th hit batter on the season. Morton has hit at least 10 batters in 12 seasons and leads all active pitchers with 198.
Up next: Detroit RHP Casey Mize (10-4, 3.50 ERA) was set to face RHP Jack Kochanowicz (3-9, 5.85) on Sunday in the series finale.
