Justyn-Henry Malloy hit an inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning, Carson Kelly added a three-run homer, and the Detroit Tigers ended their four-game losing streak with a 7-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
The Angels were down 7-1 going into the ninth inning. Zach Neto hit a three-run homer and Jo Adell added a two-run shot, all with two outs against Shelby Miller.
Tyler Holton came in and calmly struck out Nolan Schanuel to get his second save and give Detroit their third win in nine games. The Angels’ six-game winning streak came to an end.
“You can’t be unhappy with a win, especially given how things have gone,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ll leave here with a win, get on a plane, have a happy off day. We really needed this win, no matter how it happened.”
Casey Mize (2-6) pitched a scoreless ball, allowing three hits into the sixth inning for the Tigers. It was his first win in 12 starts since April 21. Mize left suddenly with a leg injury, but Detroit stopped Los Angeles from sweeping a home series of at least seven games for the first time in 20 years.
Mize thinks his leg was cramping, but Hinch said the Tigers will do more tests to make sure.
“Keeping them off the scoreboard was good for us,” Mize said. “It was a tough weekend for us here, so I really wanted to do my part. I’m satisfied with my performance, but the early run support allowed me to go after hitters, and we played really solid defense.”
Miller’s tough ninth inning began with him hitting Taylor Ward in the helmet with a 93-mph fastball. Ward left the game as a precaution, but manager Ron Washington said he didn’t have an injury or concussion symptoms.
Ward was hit in the face by a pitch from Alek Manoah last June and didn’t play again for the rest of 2023.
