Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter hit home runs in a three-run sixth inning, helping the Detroit Tigers extend their winning streak to five games with a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
The Angels, who are in last place in the AL West with a record of 54-78, have now lost six games in a row and 12 of their last 14.
The game’s start was delayed by heavy storms for 2 hours and 45 minutes, with the first pitch happening at 9:45 p.m. Despite the late start, the Tigers adjusted well.
“This was late, but we wanted to get it in so we didn’t have to play two tomorrow,” Greene said. “I have a lot of caffeine in the body right now.”
Brant Hurter (2-1) earned his second MLB win in his first start, giving up two runs on four hits over five innings. Jason Foley got the final out for his 18th save.
Johnny Cueto (0-2) took the loss in his second start of the season. The 38-year-old right-hander allowed six runs on six hits, including three home runs, over five-plus innings.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Taylor Ward started the game with a double, advanced to third on a fly ball, and scored on Nolan Schanuel’s infield single.
Cueto retired the first nine batters before Parker Meadows hit a deep fly to left-center field that fell between Ward and Kevin Pillar for a triple. Matt Vierling then doubled with one out, tying the game, and advanced to third on an error by Jo Adell.
“The triple didn’t even get to the warning track — that’s just a miscommunication on our part,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “You have to make those plays, especially when you have the lead.”
Kerry Carpenter took advantage of another defensive error when his grounder got past Zach Neto for an RBI single, putting the Tigers up 2-1.
