Detmers Gets Ambushed in the Fourth, Angels Scratch Back To Get Within A Run, Then Give Up Runs Late To Lose 5-2
Wednesday night at Oriole Park, the Angels came in looking to even up the series and ran into a 4th inning that put them in an early hole they tried to dig out of the rest of the night.
Pitching
Ryan Detmers lasted four innings and it was his final inning in the 4th that was his undoing. Through three he was sharp — Baltimore went 1-2-3 in the 2nd and 3rd, Detmers punching out five and keeping the Orioles off balance. Then the fourth happened. You know, the second time around the batting lineup if everything went ok the first time around.
Henderson worked a walk. The Angels challenged the call and lost. That challenge would come back to haunt them. O’Neill stepped in and tattooed one 426′ to left center — two-run shot, his 9th of the year, 108.5 mph off the bat, 0-2 Angels just like that. One batter later, Mayo deposited another one 436′ to the same part of the park — solo HR, his 15th, 105.9 mph off the bat. Back-to-back home runs, three runs in the inning, and Detmers was done after 81 pitches (possibly recovering from a head cold). Four innings, four hits, three earned, two home runs. Detmers stayed after the trade deadline, showed why he once threw a no-hitter as a rookie 4+ years ago the first time around the Orioles lineup, then he gave up a few pitches Oriole batters turned into a demolition derby. Three runs, two swings, game changed.
Seth Anderson came in and was the best pitcher on either side for two innings. Strikeouts of Alonso, Franklin and Narváez in the fifth — a clean 1-2-3. In the sixth he held Baltimore to a Mayo single and nothing else, getting O’Neill and Henderson to fly out. Anderson kept this game within reach when it could have gotten away.
Then there’s Ben Joyce. Back from the IL after shoulder surgery, first game back in the big leagues since April 2025, volunteer firefighter, owner of the third-fastest pitch ever recorded in the pitch-tracking era. Joyce came in pitching to Heineman, who just came into the game, and walked Holliday on 7 pitches (topping out at 102mph), got Pinch Hitter Cowser to strikeout (Angels challenged), then watched Holliday get gunned down stealing second by the new catcher Heineman. Narváez popped out. Clean inning. The arm looks right.
Fermin gave up a 2-run HR to Teveras in the bottom of the 8th. 5-2 Orioles.
On the other side, Tyler Rogers was dealing. Six innings, three hits, one run, nine strikeouts, 93 pitches. The Angels didn’t have an answer for him through five innings. Rogers started the seventh and gave up a Schanuel infield single before Baltimore pulled him and brought in Hoppe — who threw a wild pitch on his first pitch as an Oriole, gifting Schanuel second base. Meckler then got his PH RBI single. Garcia, Cano and Kittredge got it done from there.
Angels Offense
Rogers had the Angels completely stymied through five. Everyone was striking out and not really hitting the ball out of the infield. Then Siri, batting seventh, took a Rogers pitch 405′ to left center for a solo homer — his 6th of the year, 105.5 mph off the bat, launched at a 37-degree angle. One swing and the Angels were back in it at 3-1.
The seventh is where it got interesting. Schanuel scratched an infield single off Rogers. Hoppe came in and uncorked a wild pitch on his first offering as an Oriole, moving Schanuel to second. Grissom lined out. Ballesteros grounded out, Schanuel moving to third. Meckler, pinch hitting for d’Arnaud, lined a 98-mph four-seamer from Hoppe to left for an RBI single — 3-2. One run away, but Lowe couldn’t keep the inning going.
The Angels did nothing in the 8th and 9th innings.
The Bottom Line
The Angels burned their challenge in the fourth on a Henderson walk that should’ve been ball four anyway, lost it, and gave up back-to-back home runs on the next two pitches. That’s the game in a sentence.
Angels lose the first 2 in Baltimore.
