ANAHEIM — Going back to the basics this spring set a new baseline for the Angels, who continued to emerge despite early disappointments, injury woes and youth aplenty.
Logan O’Hoppe, one of the faces of that youth movement, hit a key home run in the eighth inning for the second consecutive game and Kevin Pillar had a game-ending single in the 10th inning as the Angels rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
The club’s season-best winning streak was extended to six games, while the Angels also improved to 15-10 in June amid the first winning month under new Manager Ron Washington.
“I’m still day-by-day,” Washington said. “I’m not getting too high. I’m staying even keel and trying to keep these guys even keel. … Just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving. I’m pleased with the progress we have made with these young kids.”
O’Hoppe’s game-tying homer in the eighth was his 12th of the season and came after he hit the go-ahead home run to break a tie in the eighth on Friday.
Even the Angels’ defense has come to the forefront, with O’Hoppe making a diving throw to second base in the ninth from his crouch behind the plate to wipe out Riley Greene, who was trying to steal. The leaping catch and stretched-out tag from second baseman Luis Guillorme was yet another sign of the club’s emergence.
Guillorme and shortstop Zach Neto made dazzling defensive plays in the top of the 10th inning to set up Pillar’s heroics as automatic runner Taylor Ward scored after Guillorme’s sacrifice bunt.
“Belief,” Pillar said when asked about the mood in the clubhouse. “Obviously, it’s easy to talk about: ‘Let’s go out and win a game.’ … You can feel the energy in here changing. Maybe we went out hoping to win. I think we’re starting to expect that every time that we go on the field that we’re going to win games.”
Neto is just 1 for 11 in the current series after an 0-for-4 night Saturday, but his defensive play in the 10th loomed large, with Washington calling a game saver.
“We’re just holding each other accountable, having that trust in each other and just going out there and playing for each other,” Neto said. “You do the little things right and then big things will happen.”
Angels pitching held the Tigers in check all weekend before Jake Rodgers finally gave the visitors a run that wasn’t from a bushel of walks, a ground out or a sacrifice fly. For two full games and five more innings Saturday the Tigers had not scored a run on a hit.
That changed in the sixth inning, when Rogers hit a two-run home run off Angels right-hander Griffin Canning for a 5-2 Tigers lead. The homer went along with Rogers’ run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Canning started the winning streak with an impressive outing Monday against the Oakland Athletics and then did just enough over six innings Saturday to give the Angels a chance to rally. The bullpen added four more scoreless innings after 6⅓ without a run Friday as Ben Joyce (1-1) picked up the win after a scoreless 10th.
In a mess of trouble early, when the Tigers loaded the bases three batters into the game, Canning limited the damage by allowing only one run to score on a Colt Keith force out.
The Angels moved in front with two runs in the third inning by doing some manufacturing of their own. Nolan Schanuel scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch and Willie Calhoun brought home the other on a ground out to first base.
The Tigers tied it 2-2 in the fourth on a Zack McKinstry fielder’s choice and Rogers’ sacrifice fly put Detroit up, 3-2. Rogers’ home run in the sixth, his sixth on the season, gave the Tigers a three-run advantage.
In the seventh inning, the Angels showed the fight that has made Washington proud. Jo Adell walked out of the No. 9 spot in the order and went to third on a Luis Rengifo single and error by Greene in left field. Taylor Ward followed with a double to cut the deficit to a run.
“Anytime you can have a winning month, you’ve accomplished something,” Washington said. “And I will go from what I said in the beginning to just get better every month and I think we are doing it.
“… We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there and that’s what championship teams do: Show up every single day and night. We’re showing up, now we have to learn how to take care of business every single day and every single night.”
