Detroit Tigers score: Charlie Morton struck out 7 Angels in a row, but was hit for 5 runs in the 4th and 5th innings of a 7-4 loss on Saturday.
Charlie Morton racked up 10 strikeouts.
He also allowed six runs.
The 41-year-old experienced both successes and struggles in his second start with the Detroit Tigers since joining from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline, but those struggles haunted the Tigers in a 7-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, Aug. 9, in the second of three games at Comerica Park.
The Tigers (67-51) have lost 17 of their past 25 games.
Morton allowed six runs on seven hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts across 4⅓ innings, throwing 90 pitches. The Angels tagged him for three runs in the fourth inning and two runs in the fifth inning, but the scoring began in the first inning.
In the first, the Angels took a 1-0 lead on a double by Taylor Ward, though the ball should've been caught by left fielder Jahmai Jones, who took a bad route.
It was Jones' third outfield start in 42 games this season — and just his sixth outfield start in 111 MLB games.
The Tigers paid for Jones' poor defense.
The Angels teed off on Morton in the fourth and fifth innings, with Jo Adell's three-run home run in the fourth for a 4-2 lead and Taylor Ward's two-run home run in the fifth for a 6-4 lead. Both players hit curveballs for their homers.
Aside from the seven hits allowed, Morton looked sharp. He tied a season-high 10 strikeouts, including seven strikeouts in a row from the end of the first inning through the end of the third inning.
Morton, an 18-year MLB veteran, generated 20 whiffs on 45 swings for a 44.4% whiff rate: 14 curveballs, one four-seam fastball, three cutters and two changeups. HIs fastball averaged 94.2 mph, and his curveball missed bats, but the two home runs hurt him.
He has a 5.48 ERA in 25 games (19 starts).
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Four runs vs. Yusei Kikuchi
The Tigers stacked their lineup against left-hander Yusei Kikuchi with nine right-handed hitters, including switch-hitter Wenceel Pérez in the fifth spot.
Pérez sparked the Tigers in the second inning.
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He fouled a ball off his right leg and nearly left the game, but two pitches later, he ripped an inside slider down the left-field line for a leadoff triple. He scored on an ensuing RBI single by Andy Ibáñez to tie the game, 1-1. After Javier Báez's double, a sacrifice fly from Jake Rogers put the Tigers ahead, 2-1.
The Tigers added two more runs in the fourth inning.
Back-to-back singles from Dillon Dingler and Báez set the table for Matt Vierling's sacrifice fly and Gleyber Torres' RBI double — once again tying the game, 4-4.
Kikuchi allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across five innings, throwing 102 pitches. He owns a 3.37 ERA in 25 starts.
Rafael Montero shines, Codi Heuer debuts
Right-handed reliever Rafael Montero — whom the Tigers acquired from the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline — will receive more opportunities if he pitches well.
That happened in Saturday's game.
Montero replaced Morton, retiring two batters to complete the fifth inning and three of four batters to complete the sixth inning. Four of his five outs were groundouts. The only hit was a single by Gustavo Campero with two outs in the sixth.
He struck out Yoán Moncada swinging with a splitter.
Montero has a 5.49 ERA in 41 relief appearances.
Right-handed reliever Codi Heuer — acquired from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline and recently promoted from Triple-A Toledo — made his Tigers debut in the eighth inning. He surrendered a solo home run to Luis Rengifo on a middle-middle 93.8 mph fastball.
The homer from Rengifo increased the Angels' lead to 7-4.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose to LA Angels, 7-4, despite Charlie Morton 10 K's
Category: Baseball
