Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images
On the same night that Shohei Ohtani received his MVP trophy and the Angels presented fans with a bobblehead figure of the Japanese superstar, a rookie pitcher stole the show at what turned out to be a crazy party in Anaheim.
Reid Detmers, a rookie of 22 years of age, covered himself in glory by pitching the twelfth no-hitter in Angels franchise history, a 11-0 blowout win over the Tampa Bay Rays alone week and a half after the NY Mets threw a no-hitter, no-run game.
The highlight came when Detmers dominated Yandy Diaz on a grounder to shortstop for the out 22.
The left-handed pitcher, making just the 11th start on the mound with the Angels, walked one batter and struck out 2. Finished with 108 pitches, 68 for strikes.
The Rays didn’t hit Detmers solid, but there was a time when the no-hit, no-run game came close to breaking down
. In the seventh inning after one out, Brett Phillips reached base on an error by first baseman Jared Walsh, who couldn’t cleanly field a grounder.
Some analysts considered that the play should have been marked as a hit by the official scorer.
This play comes on the hit/error borderline, but the home scorer ruled it an error on Walsh. Rays still yet to have a base hit. pic.twitter.com/rvCSFCa6Se
—Kyle Kishimoto (@kylemoto10) May 11, 2022
The game included two home runs by star Mike Trout and also one one of the funniest home runs of the season when in the eighth inning Anthony Rendon, who hits right-handed, stepped into the batter’s box left-handed and then blew his fence
The reason for Rendón’s amused gesture is that by then the blackboard indicated 10-0 and the Rays pitcher was Brett Phillips, who was an outfielder.
It was the Angels’ first no-hit, no-run game since the 12 July 2019 by Taylor Cole and Félix Peña in the team’s first game back in Anaheim since the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
July 12, 2019:
Taylor Cole and Félix Peña throw a combined no- hitter on the night the Angel family came together to honor Tyler Skaggs. The Angels won 10-0. pic.twitter.com/u9xbQkaozE— Angels On This Day (@AngelsOTD) July 12, 2022
The Angels are leaders of the Western Division of the American League (21-11), one game above the favorite Houston Astros.
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