​ARLINGTON, Tex. — Heading into the series finale with the Texas Rangers, the Los Angeles Angels had a golden opportunity to take the series after splitting the first two games. They handed the ball to one of their most dependable starters this season, Reid Detmers, hoping he could build on a recent stretch of solid outings. Instead, Los Angeles fell 7-6 in a heartbreaking defeat, as Kirby Yates absorbed his fourth loss of the year after surrendering the walk-off hit in the ninth inning, leaving the Angels just shy of forcing extra innings.
Detmers carried a 4.13 ERA into the start, but that figure doesn’t fully capture how well he has pitched this season. In 18 starts, he went 3-6 with a 1.11 WHIP and had been one of the Angels’ more effective arms, notably finishing July with a 2.27 ERA across five starts spanning 31.2 innings. That recent form provided a strong opportunity for him to rebound after his prior outing.
His last start prior to this one came against the Boston Red Sox on July 3, when he allowed five runs over five innings, including a homer. The hope was that he would rebound and help Los Angeles regain some momentum. Instead, Detmers ran into trouble right away.
The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the first. After Josh Jung doubled, Brandon Nimmo lined a solo homer, and Jake Burger followed with an RBI single, giving Texas a 2-0 lead. The Angels answered in the third. Wade Meckler opened the frame with a single, Zach Neto reached on an infield hit and moved to second as Meckler advanced to third. Mike Trout then drove in the Angels’ first run with a groundout to shortstop Ezequiel Duran, trimming the deficit to 2-1. It would be the only run Los Angeles scored in the inning.
Texas quickly responded in the bottom of the third, as Detmers served up his second homer of the game when Duran launched a two-run shot to push the lead to 4-1. The Rangers added another run in the fourth when Justin Foscue hit a solo homer, the third long ball allowed by Detmers. He finished his night after four innings, yielding seven hits and five earned runs, walking one and striking out six. It marked the second straight start in which he allowed five earned runs. While he registered 10 whiffs on 39 swings, his swing-and-miss stuff was overshadowed by struggles against the Rangers lineup. Chase Silseth came on in the fifth and offered a spark.
Silseth immediately delivered with a seven-pitch, scoreless fifth inning, giving the Angels their first scoreless frame since the second inning. Yet the offense stalled for much of the night, failing to capitalize on several opportunities and leaving the bullpen with too much work to do.
The game’s significance extended beyond the box score for Texas. Entering the series, the Rangers led the American League West, and the result mattered in their pursuit of the division title. With the loss, Los Angeles dropped a step in trying to derail Texas’s momentum, while Detmers’ fourth loss of the year added to a rough stretch that the Angels hoped to reverse in this matchup.