Angels hit 3 quick homers and Reid Detmers cruises in victory over Yankees

NEW YORK — The Angels wasted little time in demonstrating that there would be no hangover from their heartbreaking loss a night earlier.

They hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the first inning and then left-hander Reid Detmers cruised through seven innings, as the Angels beat the New York Yankees, 7-1, on Tuesday night.

“Back-to-back-to-back, that was pretty awesome to start the game, especially with last night’s game being tough and stuff,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said of the consecutive homers from Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler. “So the way the guys came out firing, ready to go today was a tremendous job.”

Detmers sat in the dugout watching the first-inning fireworks, and then he took the mound for one of the better starts of his career. Detmers gave up just four hits, did not walk a batter and struck out nine. He was working on a shutout until a run was charged to him after he left in the eighth. Detmers threw 99 pitches, including 69 strikes. He needed more than 16 pitches in just one inning.

Detmers took the mound in the eighth because Suzuki wanted to show that he trusted him. Also, the manager likely wanted to milk every out he could out of a starter who was rolling to give a break to a bullpen that had struggled in games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Angels (9-9) might have a bullpen game in the series finale on Thursday, after Jack Kochanowicz starts on Wednesday.

“He pitched great,” Suzuki said of Detmers. “Using all his pitches, mixing it up. I thought (Logan O’Hoppe) did a great job mixing it up with that. He pitched to all quadrants of the strike zone and attacked and kept them on their heels. It was awesome.”

Detmers, who cut his ERA to 3.57 through four starts, said he felt it was all working.

“It was one of those games where everything felt good,” Detmers said. “Heater command was pretty good, but the changeup was really good tonight. I was able to get the changeup in zone, get some swing and misses and it kind of freed everything else up. But the slider felt good. Got a couple good swings on curveballs. Couple sliders I left hanging up, but overall a pretty good night.”

The changeup was the most noticeable pitch. Detmers threw it 16 times, and the Yankees whiffed on six of their 12 swings. They accounted for four of his strikeouts. Detmers averaged 85 mph with the pitch, after throwing it around 80 mph previously this year.

“I’ve just started throwing it like a fastball, stop babying it,” Detmers said of the changeup. “The last couple starts I’ve kind of been babying it a little bit. Just trying to trust it. Once I got the first couple swings and misses early in the game, I was like, ‘OK, I can trust it a little bit,’ and started letting it go.”

Trout, watching from center field, said he noticed a difference.

“That changeup is the best I’ve seen from him,” Trout said.

Trout had just made an adjustment himself, and it also has shown dividends.

Trout said he started using a tiny step-back with his right foot last September, in order to keep him from “getting stuck” and “being under the ball.” He didn’t use it at the start of this season, because he didn’t think he needed it, but then he started again over the weekend in Cincinnati.

He’s been hot since then, including two homers on Monday night and another in his first at-bat on Tuesday, his fifth of the season. Adell (No. 2) and Soler (No. 5) followed, giving the Angels their first back-to-back homers since Trout, Brandon Drury and Matt Thaiss did it at Coors Field in June 2023.

Three innings later, Oswald Peraza connected for his third homer of the season. Peraza, who also had two singles and a walk, was starting at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the Yankees traded him to the Angels last July.

Yoán Moncada contributed with a two-run single in the sixth, extending the lead to 6-0, and then a solo homer in the eighth.

Moncada also made a diving stop of an Aaron Judge grounder in the first inning, popping up and throwing out the Yankees slugger. He made another nice backhand play to get Giancarlo Stanton in the seventh.

Shortstop Zach Neto made a diving stop over the middle to record the final out of the seventh.

Suzuki said he appreciated how the Angels kept the pressure on after the quick start.

“You gotta do that, especially in this place, against that team, that lineup,” Suzuki said. “We see how dangerous they are. So to just keep kind of the foot on the gas for Reid and the offense to keep scoring runs after the first inning was huge.”