Reid Detmers is rapidly turning into one of the hottest pitchers in Major League Baseball, and the Boston Red Sox just experienced his latest dominant performance.
The Los Angeles Angels left-hander delivered six shutout innings Tuesday night at Fenway Park, striking out nine while surrendering only one hit and one walk as the Angels cruised to a 6-1 victory over Boston.
Detmers needed a career-high 112 pitches to complete his outing, but the heavy workload did little to slow him down. His performance extended what has been an extraordinary second-half surge.
Detmers Continues Incredible Second-Half Run
Since the All-Star break, Detmers has posted a 1.37 ERA across 10 starts, the best mark among Major League pitchers during that span. He has also recorded 68 strikeouts against only 10 walks over 59⅓ innings.
His latest outing made history for the Angels.
Detmers became only the second pitcher in franchise history to record at least six innings while allowing one run or fewer in six consecutive starts. He joined Dean Chance, who accomplished the feat in 1964.
“He was pretty amazing,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He attacked from the beginning and had all his offspeed working and kept them off-balance.”
Wouldn’t Let Angels Take Him Out
After throwing 90 pitches through five innings, Detmers had a brief conversation with Suzuki. The manager wanted to make sure his starter was comfortable continuing, but Detmers made his intentions clear.
“I just pretty much told him I was going to pitch the sixth inning no matter what,” Detmers said.
The left-hander followed through by retiring the final 10 batters he faced.
Boston managed just one hit against him, a two-out single by Wilyer Abreu in the opening inning. Detmers also issued a walk and hit a batter, but neither situation turned into significant trouble.
The Red Sox did force him to work, however, fouling off 30 pitches and driving his pitch total unusually high.
Career Year Taking Shape
Detmers improved to 5-8 with a 3.32 ERA in 29 starts this season. He has accumulated 191 strikeouts and 45 walks across 168 innings after returning to the rotation following a relief role last year.
The numbers could be even more impressive if not for the Angels’ lack of offensive support.
Despite Detmers posting a microscopic 1.37 ERA over his last 10 starts, Los Angeles has gone just 2-8 in those games.
His dominance also came against a familiar opponent in Patrick Sandoval, who spent the first several years of his career with the Angels before joining Boston.
Sandoval had plenty of praise for his former teammate.
“He’s probably been the best pitcher in the big leagues,” Sandoval said.
For an Angels club looking toward the future, Detmers’ transformation since the All-Star break could be one of the biggest positives of the season.
If he continues pitching at this level, Los Angeles may have discovered the ace it has been searching for.
