ANAHEIM — Reid Detmers wasn’t as dominant as he had been, but it was good enough on a night when the offense, defense and bullpen all did their jobs.
The Angels left-hander gave up three runs, more than he had in any start in more than a month, but the Angels still beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-4, on Monday night.
Shortstop Zach Neto made a rocket relay throw to the plate in the first inning, saving Detmers a run. The hitters took an early four-run lead and then added some insurance.
And the bullpen, which had surrendered late leads in all three losses over the weekend in Washington, held this one.
Right-hander Ben Joyce worked around two walks to pitch a scoreless ninth and pick up his fifth save, which finally knocked Jordan Romano from his perch as the team leader in saves. Romano picked up four saves before he was released in April.
Detmers had pitched at least six innings while allowing one or no runs in six consecutive starts, but that streak came to an end on one swing of Cal Raleigh’s bat.
In the fourth inning, Detmers gave up back-to-back singles to Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone, and then he threw a slider on the outside corner and Raleigh punched it out to the opposite field.
Just like that, a four-run lead was trimmed to one.
Detmers, however, slipped right back into gear. He retired nine of the next 12 hitters to get through the sixth without allowing another run.
Detmers struck out eight, giving him 199 for the season. He is putting the finishing touches on a season that has seen him post a 3.36 ERA over 30 starts. He has a 1.65 ERA in 11 starts since the All-Star break.
Detmers never trailed on Monday, thanks to Neto. J.P. Crawford tried to score from first on a Randy Arozarena double in the first inning, but center fielder José Siri made a throw to Neto, whose throw to the plate was 97 mph and in time to get Crawford.
The Angels then got to work at the plate, with early damage against Kade Anderson, the Mariners’ star pitching prospect.
Anderson was the No. 3 overall pick in the the 2025 MLB Draft, and then he tore through the minors with a 1.06 ERA in 18 starts. The more he dominated, the worse it looked that the Angels passed on him with the No. 2 pick in the draft, instead taking Tyler Bremner.
That narrative has cooled somewhat with the beginning of Anderson’s big league career. He has a 5.33 ERA in his first five major league starts.
The Angels got to him in the first inning, when Mike Trout singled and scored on a José Siri double. Siri then stole third and scored on Vaughn Grissom’s fly ball.
In the third, Wade Meckler singled and scored on a Zach Neto triple. Siri then singled, to drive in Neto and put the Angels ahead, 4-0.
The Angels tacked a fifth run onto his line after he was out of the game, in the fifth inning.
More to come on this story.