Late December back in sixty three….or actually tonight.
Reid Detmers entered the game having pitched nearly 30 more innings than in 2024 and 2025 combined. There was absolutely no logical reason to roll him out there, hey, I guess until the ink dries Arte still owns the team.
Thankfully he left the game healthy and threw yet another dominant game. In 6 shutout innings he struck out 7 Mariners (over/under was 6.5 by the way). He finishes the year with an outstanding 3.36 ERA in 185 innings pitched with 211 strikeouts.
Stud.
Wade Meckler started the game with a triple then scored on a wild pitch. If there’s a heart and hustle award, the mustachioed red head deserves it.
The Angels got a little breathing room in the top of the 4th inning when Vaughn Grissom singled in Mike Trout.
That 2-0 lead held through to the 6th inning when the suddenly hot Christian Moore cracked a three run shot to push the lead to 5-0.
At this point the Angels were looking good and the A’s were up big and life was great. It got a little greater an inning later when Zach Neto crushed his 27th bomb of the season.
Up 6-0 at the stretch, what could go wrong? Oh, yeah, the Angels bullpen. Jose Fermin pitched a clean bottom of the 7th, though, to keep the shutout in play.
But then Sam Bachman entered the game. He loaded the bases with one out, hit Julio Rodriguez to bring in the first Mariners run. Then after a K of Josh Naylor he gave up an infield single to make it 6-2 with the bases still loaded.
Enter Tayler Saucedo to pitch against his former club. He escaped the bases loaded jam and sent the game to the final frame with a 6-2 Angels lead.
Meanwhile the A’s bullpen acted like the Angels and turned their game against Houston into a nail biter. Just needed the A’s to win tonight to keep the possibility of both the #2 waiver slot and avoiding 100 losses.
Whew. A’s win!
And the Angels picked up a run in the top of the 9th when Bryce Teodosio showed his wheels on a Zach Neto double.
Luke Murphy came in to pitch the 9th. The lanky Vandy alum was not very sharp and a defensive miscue by Bryce Teodosio kept the door open a crack for the Mariners. It was 7-3 with 2 outs and Randy Arozerana on third base when Murphy gave up a bomb to Canzone to make it 7-5 Angels.
Angels win 7-5! Light that Baby Up!
