Nothing about this one stayed still for long. Los Angeles and Detroit traded the lead three times before the Angels finally made it stick, escaping with a 3-2 win at Angel Stadium after Ryan Zeferjahn gave up a solo homer in the ninth but closed it out anyway.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| LAA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 9 | 0 |
Ryan Johnson gave the Angels exactly what they needed from the middle of their rotation, working 5.0 innings and allowing just 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 5. He walked 3 but kept Detroit off the board apart from an early run, and picked up the win to move to 2-4 on the season, carrying a 6.10 ERA.
The Angels never trailed for long. Kevin McGonigle had put Detroit ahead with a first-inning homer to left center, but Oswald Peraza tied it back up in the second, reaching on an infield single that scored Vaughn Grissom. The go-ahead run came in the fifth, when Jorge Soler grounded out to shortstop and Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout advanced as Zach Neto scored to make it 2-1. Neto added insurance in the sixth, singling to right to bring home Peraza and push the lead to 3-1.
Detroit starter Casey Mize worked 3.1 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits before handing off to the bullpen, which combined for 4.2 innings and 2 runs the rest of the way. Drew Anderson took the loss after allowing 1 run in 1.1 innings. Riley Greene's ninth-inning homer to right center pulled Detroit within one, but it wasn't enough, and Zeferjahn closed it out for his third save of the season.
The result snapped a two-game skid for Los Angeles, which improved to 39-61. Detroit, the division's fourth-place club, fell to 46-53 with the loss.