Tigers hold off Angels' ninth-inning rally, snap losing streak

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Well, that’s one way to flip a mood.

The Detroit Tigers dragged out of Angels Stadium on Saturday night smarting from a late-inning implosion and a fourth-straight loss. But it was all blue skies and sunshine on Sunday.

Sparked by a leadoff triple and an early run by Andy Ibanez and further energized by an inside-the-park home run by rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy, the Tigers salvaged the series finale against the Los Angeles Angels with a 7-6 win, surviving a five-run outburst in the bottom of the ninth.

They also may have fed off the fury of starting pitcher Casey Mize.

Mize walked the first two hitters in the second inning. At that point, he’d thrown more balls (13) than strikes (10). He didn’t get a borderline call from home plate umpire Mark Ripperger on the second walk and he was quietly but visibly steamed.

He took it out on the next hitter, Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe. O’Hoppe had hit clutch home runs both Friday and Saturday nights, but Mize was undaunted. He struck him out on three pitches, all angry heaters, all swinging strikes — 97-mph four-seamer, 97.5 mph two-seamer, 98-mph four-seam.

Then he ended the frame with a 4-6-3 double-play off Zach Neto. He threw three of the firmest pitches of his career, as recorded by Statcast, in that second inning and he didn’t throttle down the rest of the way.

Mize, who allowed only three singles, got the Angels to hit into eight ground-ball outs, including three double-plays. He assisted on two of them, finishing a 3-6-1 in the first inning and starting a 1-4-3 in the fifth.

His four-seamer carried an average velocity of 96.3 mph (up .8 mph from his average) and with it he got eight misses on 21 swings. He effectively mixed splitters, sliders and changeups, but the heater did the heavy lifting.

The outing ended prematurely, though. After he got Jo Adell to foul out to start the sixth, he grabbed at the back of his left leg. It looked like he might’ve been cramping. It was 87 degrees at first pitch Sunday.

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