– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, Texas — It takes a Superman effort for a member of the Los Angeles Angels to take the headlines away from baseball’s version of the Man of Steel, Shohei Ohtani, especially when the prohibitive favorite for league MVP put on another heroic performance at the plate. Starting pitcher Reid Detmers, Clark Kent-like in his unassumingness on the mound, turned out to be the story in the Angels’ latest victory during a near-historic performance.
Detmers did not allow a hit until the eighth inning, and the Angels’ bullpen was able to close the door in Los Angeles’ 2-0 victory over the Texas Rangers inside Globe Life Field on Wednesday evening. Ohtani provided the only offense the Angels needed on the evening, cracking his league-leading 42nd home run in the first inning as part of a 3-for-4 evening in the batter’s box.
Detmers allowed four walks and struck out five during his masterful performance, holding the powerful Rangers hitless for 7 1/3 innings until Marcus Semien’s double to center broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the eighth. That was the last action Detmers saw in the game that, at that point, was still just a 1-0 lead for Los Angeles. Reynaldo Lopez came on in relief and, after intentionally walking Corey Seager, struck out Adolis Garcia before inducing a fly out to left from Nathaniel Lowe to end the threat.
Given his form tonight on the road against a powerful Texas offense, it’s a surprise that Detmers earned just his third win of the season, and his first since July 2 against Arizona. He gave up seven earned runs on seven hits and walked three (with no strikeouts) in his last start, a defeat in Houston against the Astros.
Despite a quality start and following Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery’s stellar performances earlier this series, Rangers starter Jon Gray earned the tough-luck loss, only allowing the Ohtani solo home run while going seven innings and scattering six hits and striking out four.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with all photos taken by Dallas-area photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 39 pictures in total.
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