Angels' Detmers fans 10 in fourth pro start

Well, that didn't take very long.

In just his fourth professional start, Reid Detmers looked every bit the 10th overall pick from the 2020 Draft -- whiffing 10 over six frames where he yielded an unearned run on a hit and a pair of walks in Double-A Rocket City's 5-1 loss to Birmingham at Toyota Field on Tuesday night.

The second-ranked Angels prospect did not factor into the decision and was pulled after tossing 83 pitches -- 59 for strikes. Detmers also flashed 94-96 mph with his 55-grade fastball throughout the evening.

"I went out there and my main goal was just to get ahead early, and I thought I did pretty well with that tonight," he said. "Pretty much all four pitches were working well. I had a good feel for them early on. Then I really found my changeup around the fourth and started using that a little bit more. But, every time I get the ball I just want to go out there and compete."

The left-hander appeared to have shrugged off the early game struggles that plagued him through his first three starts, as he came out of the gate sharp against the Barons. Detmers punched out the first six batters he faced -- needing 14 pitches to retire the side in the first and 13 pitches to navigate through the second.

"Every time you go out there, you want to have scoreless innings," Detmers said. "It's never fun giving up runs early in the game. You always want to go out there and set the tone. I haven't done very well with that, missing spots and they take advantage, but tonight I did pretty well of hitting spots and keeping them off balance."

MLB Pipeline's No. 61 overall prospect yielded his first baserunner on a six-pitch walk to Ian Dawkins to lead off the third. After a throwing error from catcher Anthony Mulrine allowed Dawkins to move to third, he was plated on a sacrifice fly later in the frame.

Detmers recovered to retire the side in order in the fourth -- with a pair of strikeouts -- on nine pitches. And after a leadoff single in the fifth, the Louisville product sat down the final six batters he faced -- needing just seven pitches to get through his final frame.

"He's just progressively got better each time out," Trash Pandas skipper Jay Bell said. "He gave up the one run, but it was a poor throw by Mulrine which set up a man on third with less than two [outs] and they got the sac fly. But he was just really good tonight. The one mistake he made was the walk that scored, other than that, command was really great all night."

The 21-year-old lowered his ERA to 3.12 and is sporting a 1.15 WHIP with 27 punchouts and just six walks over 17 1/3 innings this season. Tuesday marked the longest outing of his career.