Angels bats go quiet behind Reid Detmers

ANAHEIM -- It was the kind of game the Angels can’t afford to lose leading up to the critical Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

Lefty Reid Detmers was solid but inefficient, striking out nine while allowing two runs over five innings. And the offense was held in check in a 3-0 loss to the Pirates on Saturday night at Angel Stadium. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Angels (50-49), who had the chance to move within three games of the Blue Jays for the third and final Wild Card spot, but remain four games back.

“It’s tough,” said Detmers, who fell to 2-7 with a 4.38 ERA. “It’s just one of those days where we get the bad end of the stick.”

The Angels have eight games leading up to the Trade Deadline, including the series finale vs. Pittsburgh on Sunday before they head on a three-city trip to Detroit, Toronto and Atlanta. The Halos need to bounce back from Saturday’s loss to continue to build momentum to avoid being sellers, and in turn, hanging on to two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Detmers did his best to keep the Angels in the game and opened with four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. He gave up a one-out double to Connor Joe on an 0-1 slider over the middle of the plate before allowing an RBI single to Bryan Reynolds on a 2-1 fastball on the inner part of the plate.

Detmers had the chance to minimize the damage after getting Andrew McCutchen to softly ground out to second base for the second out. But he gave up an RBI double to Carlos Santana on a 2-1 fastball to put the Angels in a two-run hole.

He wasn’t helped by a missed call on a check swing from Santana that should’ve been the second strike and changed the tenor of the at-bat. Detmers also lamented a missed call on a check swing earlier in the game that would’ve been a third strike and was clearly not happy with the calls by first-base umpire Sean Barber.

“I wouldn't say it impacts me. It was just frustrating,” Detmers said. “It was the second time and it probably cost me close to 15 pitches. I was hoping to go out for the sixth, but obviously after that happened, the pitch count didn’t allow me to.”

Angels manager Phil Nevin said it’s still a learning process for the 24-year-old Detmers on how to pitch deeper into games and not allow an umpire’s decision to affect him. He’s averaging roughly 5 1/3 innings per start this season.

“He’s got to get better about being efficient with his pitches,” Nevin said. “And I know we never talk about wins anymore for starting pitchers. That’s why there are two there. He has too good of stuff to come into August with just two wins. You can ask anybody in this league and he has some of the best stuff in baseball.”

The offense had been rolling in the Angels’ seven games since the All-Star break, averaging 7.1 runs per game, while scoring at least four runs in each. But they saw that streak snapped, as well as a club record streak of 19 straight games with a homer. It was also just the fourth time this season they had been shut out and the first time since June 21.

The Angels couldn’t come through in a bullpen game that featured five Pirates pitchers. Their best scoring chance came in the fourth inning, when they loaded the bases with nobody out against Osvaldo Bido. But Matt Thaiss lined into a double play and Hunter Renfroe struck out to end the inning.

“He smoked the ball, and that’s a tough one for the runner at second because it was 10 feet from the bag,” Nevin said. “And we didn’t get a hit behind that. So yeah, it was a turning point.”

Los Angeles also loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against closer David Bednar, who had trouble with his control, walking two batters and hitting another. But Trey Cabbage fouled back a 2-0 fastball before grounding into a game-ending double play on a splitter. The Angels went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

“Against a closer like that with the stuff he has, the [2-0 pitch] might be your only chance against him,” Nevin said. “Unless he hangs it big time, they don’t get hit. You’ve got to take your shots and he did but he just missed it.”