BOSTON — When Reid Detmers explained this spring why he was so confident in a bounceback season, he pinpointed the work he had done on his mechanics over the winter. He said it allowed him to self-diagnose when something was going wrong, so he could fix it during a game.
Friday’s game was Exhibit A.
Detmers said he didn’t feel right at the beginning, but it was all clicking by the end of his 6⅓ innings in the Angels’ 7-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
“I was fighting myself a little bit,” Detmers said, “but I worked between innings and figured it out slowly and by the end of the game I had all my stuff back. You’re going to have days like that. This offseason I figured out some stuff, and if I do have struggles, I can go back to that and get back on track.”
Detmers is the first Angels pitcher since Jered Weaver in 2011 to earn the victory in his first three games of the season. Detmers has allowed two earned runs in 17⅓ innings, good for an ERA of 1.04.
Detmers struck out seven and walked two, throwing 64 strikes among his 98 pitches.
“He kept them off balance all night,” Manager Ron Washington said. “Another great outing.”
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who has been behind the plate for each of Detmers games this season, said the end result may have been similar, but the way he got there wasn’t.
“In his pregame bullpen, his stuff wasn’t wasn’t there as much as it was at the end of the outing,” O’Hoppe said. “Obviously in the first inning, I thought it got much better, but he really figured it out. And then he was able to settle in and be the guy who was the starts before.”
Detmers gave up three hits and a walk in the first three innings, but the Red Sox didn’t score because the Angels turned double plays behind him in the first and second innings.
“It’s huge because I knew I didn’t have strikeout stuff early on,” Detmers said. “I was doing everything I can to get ground balls or weak pop flies.”
After that, Detmers retired 14 of the last 16 hitters he faced.
He was able to cruise through the game with a comfortable cushion because the Angels (7-6) gave Detmers a 3-0 lead before he threw his first pitch, thanks in part to Boston’s sloppy defense.
With runners at first and second and no outs, Mike Trout hit a ground ball to shortstop David Hamilton. It should have been a double play, but Hamilton’s throw to second was high and the Red Sox didn’t get any outs.
Taylor Ward then hit a grounder to second baseman Pablo Reyes, who also could have started a double play if he hadn’t bobbled it, settling for one out.
In the third, the Angels scored a run when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made a throwing error.
Besides the Boston errors, the Angels also had 12 hits, including Ward’s fourth homer of the season. He hit a two-run shot over the Green Monster in the sixth inning.
Zach Neto drilled a 110-mph line drive off the fence in center field. Antony Rendon, Aaron Hicks and Nolan Schanuel – who all brought sub-.200 batting averages into the game – had two hits apiece.
Everyone in the Angels’ starting lineup had at least one hit.
Angels relievers also did the job. Luis Garcia, José Cisnero and Hunter Strickland collaborated on the final eight outs without allowing a baserunner.
“We really put it together today,” O’Hoppe said. “I think that’s the best way to put it. Our approach was good. Everyone attacked the game plan. We’re gonna get it rolling.”
