Detroit Tigers vs Los Angeles Angels Box Score on May 13, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 14, 2017

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- J.D. Martinez slugged a pair of home runs Saturday night at Angel Stadium, one bomb to left field in the second and the game-winner to right in the eighth, to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

They were the first home runs of the season for the right fielder, who missed the first 33 games of the season with a foot injury. Justin Upton also homered, his eighth of the season, to account for the other Tigers' run.

The Tigers are now 17-9 in games in which they hit a homer, and 1-8 in games they don't. They stay two games behind Minnesota in the American League Central and can win their first series in Anaheim since 2009 with a win in Sunday's series finale.

For the Angels, it was their eighth loss in their last 11 games, and they have now scored three runs or less in 22 of their 39 games.

The game was tied 2-2 after five innings. Martinez hit his first home run of the season in the second, a two-run shot, and Albert Pujols drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the fifth to tie it.

The Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the sixth on Upton's home run, a solo shot to left field with one out. After threatening in the sixth, the Angels caught the Tigers in the seventh on Mike Trout's 10th home run of the season to center field off reliever Shane Greene.

Martinez's game-winner came against Angels closer Bud Norris (1-2).

Angels starter Ricky Nolasco allowed the first two Tigers home runs, giving him 13 on the season, the third most in baseball behind Mike Fiers and former Angel Jered Weaver (14). Of the 22 runs Nolasco has allowed in 2017, 17 have crossed the plate via a home run. He's allowed two home runs in six of his eight starts.

Nolasco allowed five hits and four walks in six innings while striking out four. Tigers starter Daniel Norris pitched well in his 5 2/3 innings, most of the seven singles he allowed of the soft variety.

He was unlucky in the fifth, the Angels loading the bases on a soft single, infield single and a species hit-by-pitch call facing Trout to set up Pujols hit.

Justin Wilson earned his second save of the season and the first since being named the Tigers' closer earlier this week by manager Brad Ausmus. He struck out the side in the ninth, giving him 26 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings this season.

Martinez, playing just his second game of the season after being sidelined for 33 games with a foot injury, hit his first home run of the season, a two-run bomb to left in the second inning to score Victor Martinez, who had singled.

The Tigers threatened in the fourth when Nolasco walked two and gave up a single to Martinez to load the bases. But the Angels right-hander struck out Tyler Collins, and first baseman Jefry Marte made a nice diving stop on a Jose Iglesias grounder to end the inning.

The Angels tied the score with a two-out rally in the fifth. Martin Maldonado hit a soft single to center and Yunel Escobar reached when shortstop Iglesias made a nice stop in the hole but bobbled the ball trying to make a throw.

On a 2-2 inside pitch to Trout, home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski ruled that the ball clipped Trout. Replays showed no deviation of the ball's path, but the Tigers chose not to challenge the call.

With the bases loaded, Pujols hit a two-run single down the left-field line to score Maldonado and Escobar to make it 2-2.

NOTES: Angels 2B Danny Espinosa broke the franchise record for most consecutive at-bats without a hit, extending his streak to 0-for-36 before snapping it with a single in the sixth. The franchise record was previously held at 35 by Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia shuffled his lineup, moving Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to second and third in the order, hoping to create more offense at the top of the lineup. ... With LHP Bud Norris pitching, the Angels sat three left-handed hitters and started with three players in the lineup hitting under .200, 1B Jefry Marte (.175), who hit cleanup; LF Cameron Maybin (.194) and Espinosa (.134). ... The Tigers left six players on base from the fourth to the sixth. ... Angels reliever Andrew Bailey suffered a setback during his rehab for a shoulder injury and is headed to a New York specialist, Dr. David Altchek, next week. Altchek did a successful reconstruction of Bailey's shoulder in 2013.