Kyle Hendricks turned in his best performance of the season on Saturday night, pitching into the eighth inning to earn his first win as a Los Angeles Angel and leading his team to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers, ending a seven-game losing streak.
Hendricks (1-3), making his sixth start since joining the Angels after 11 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, limited the Tigers to one run on four hits over 7 2/3 innings. The 35-year-old right-hander retired all but one batter through seven frames before Spencer Torkelson broke up the shutout with a solo homer in the eighth — his 10th of the year.
The Angels broke through with a four-run sixth inning, highlighted by two-run singles from Luis Rengifo and Kyren Paris. Rengifo is now hitting .438 (7-for-16) with runners in scoring position, the best mark on the team.
Travis d’Arnaud helped manufacture a run in the second, doubling with two outs and scoring when Paris’ flyball dropped in right-center after a collision between Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene. Carpenter was charged with an error.
Jack Flaherty (1-4) took the loss for Detroit, allowing five runs—four earned-on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Brock Burke recorded the final out of the eighth and the first out of the ninth before Kenley Jansen came in to close it. Jansen, rebounding from a rough outing Friday when he gave up three homers and six runs, notched his seventh save by retiring Greene on an RBI groundout and Colt Keith on a lineout.
Taylor Ward’s struggles continued, as he went hitless again and is now mired in a 0-for-26 slump.
Key Moment
The Angels loaded the bases in the sixth with one out, and Rengifo delivered a first-pitch single up the middle to plate two runs, sparking a four-run inning.
Key Stat
The Angels scored five runs for just the second time in their last 20 games — the first since April 20 against the Giants.
Up Next
The series wraps up Sunday, with Detroit sending RHP Reese Olson to the mound against Angels’ RHP Jack Kochanowicz. Los Angeles will try to earn a split in the four-game set.
