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 Thursday's game between Detroit and Los Angeles was billed as a
premier pitching matchup between two 11-game winners -- the Angels'
Garrett Richards and the Tigers' Max Scherzer.
However, the Angels and Tigers also happen to be two of the
best-hitting teams in the American League.
In the end, it was third baseman Nick Castellanos' two-run double in
the sixth inning that gave the Tigers the lead for good in a 6-4
victory.
The Tigers began the night ranked first in the league in batting
average, hits, total bases, doubles, slugging percentage and on-base
percentage. The Angels were first in runs and RBIs, and second in
average, hits, total bases, doubles and on-base percentage.
When push came to shove, it was the Tigers hitters who did a better
job of exploiting the opposing pitcher's mistakes to come away with
a win.
"I cannot say he was hittable," Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter
said of Richards. "It was not fun. He made some mistakes, and we
live off mistakes. We don't live off pitchers' pitches. He made a
couple mistakes, he hung a slider or curveball to me and I was able
to capitalize on it. Other than that, Garrett was filthy."
Hunter's RBI double off Richards in the sixth inning cut the Angels'
lead to 3-2. Castellanos followed with his two-run double to put
Detroit up 4-3, and the Tigers held the lead the rest of the way.
Scherzer was perfect through three innings and worked himself out of
a jam in the fourth before the Angels got to him in the fifth. Los
Angeles collected four hits in the inning, including an RBI infield
single by designated hitter C.J. Cron and a two-run single by right
fielder Kole Calhoun to establish a 3-1 lead.
"They were able to get to me there, they put together some really
good at-bats against me," Scherzer said. "They grind each at-bat,
foul pitches off and were able to capitalize on some mistakes. I
made some good pitches, and they were able to put the ball in play.
They got some hits that way to keep the inning going."
Scherzer had just the one bad inning. Outside of that, he retired
the side in order five times and kept the Angels from mounting any
serious scoring threats.
Scherzer (12-3) gave up three runs on six hits and one walk while
striking out 11 in seven innings. He moved into a tie for the major
league lead with 12 wins.
"I thought against Scherzer we did a good job," Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. "He struck out 11, but for the most part we executed
well, moved runners over. Kole had the big hit to give us a lead in
the fifth, and we had other opportunities."
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The three-run sixth spelled the end for Richards, who gave up four
runs on seven hits and two walks. It marked only the fourth time in
his 21 starts he allowed more than three runs in a game, and the
first time since May 30.
"I think some things might have caught up to him," Scioscia said of
Richards (11-3). "His command was a little bit off early, but his
velocity was good and his movement was terrific. His slider was
there, but he got some pitches in some zones where those guys caught
up to them."
The Tigers added single runs off the Angels' bullpen in the seventh
and eighth innings to give themselves a cushion. The Angels scored
once in the eighth against Tigers reliever Joba Chamberlain to
narrow their deficit to 6-4, but Joe Nathan struck out the side in
the ninth for his 21st save.
With the win, the Tigers increased their American League Central
lead to seven games, with the Kansas City Royals now in second place
ahead of the Cleveland Indians. The Angels fell three games behind
the Oakland A's in the AL West.
NOTES: The Angels reached 60 wins in their first 100 games for the
sixth time in franchise history. Three of the previous five times,
they reached the playoffs. ... Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera led the
majors hitting with runners in scoring position through Wednesday,
batting .385 (35-for-91) in those situations. He went 0-for-2 with
RBI chances Thursday. ... Angels CF Mike Trout led the majors with
58 extra-base hits and 226 total bases entering play Thursday. He
went 1-for-4 with a double in the series opener against Detroit. ...
Tigers CF Austin Jackson is hitting .383 (31-for-81) with 18 runs,
10 doubles, two triples, one homer and 10 RBIs since July 2.
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