May 11, 2017

Justin Upton and former Angel Andrew Romine homered in the first two innings, as the Tigers dominated the Angels 7-1 on Thursday night at the Big A.

Upton hit a 3-run homer in the 1st inning off of JC Ramirez, giving the Tigers a quick lead they would never relinquish.

“The first inning has been huge for me in all the games I’ve been starting,” Ramirez said. “I don’t know why. Then I bounce back. Maybe I need to be more focused, be more mentally prepared for that first inning.”

Romine made it 5-0 in the 2nd with a 2-run blast, his 2nd long ball of the season.  Ramirez did settle down after that, retiring 10 straight batters at one point.

Ramirez (3-3) took the loss, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings of work.  He managed to spare the bullpen a long evening, but the Halos couldn’t give him any run support.

The only Angel run came on an RBI double from Yunel Escobar in the 5th inning.  It was also 1 of only 4 hits on the night for the Halos.

In 11 of their last 17 games, the Angels have been held to three runs or fewer.  Mike Trout did return to the lineup and started as the teams Designated Hitter, but he was 0-4 on the night.

Michael Fulmer (4-1) picked up the win, pitching 7 strong innings for the Tigers.  He allowed just 1 run on 3 hits, while striking out 7.

“We have probably a handful of guys in our lineup right now struggling to find their rhythm,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “They’re not seeing the ball as well as they can. We have some guys just fighting themselves who need to just exhale and take a step back, and that’s what we’re working on.

The Angels and Tigers will do it again on Friday night in Anaheim.  It will be Matt Shoemaker (1-2; 5.21 ERA) for the Halos and Jordan Zimmermann (3-1; 6.21 ERA) for Detroit.