ANAHEIM, Calif. — Angels rookie Reid Detmers pitched the majors’ second no-hitter this season, cruising after he benefitted from a borderline error call in the seventh inning as Los Angeles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 12-0 Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old left hander threw a career-high 108 pitches in his 11th big league start, striking out two and walking one. He completed the 12th no-hitter in franchise history when Yandy Diaz grounded out shortstop Andrew Velazquez to end the game.
“I just blacked out,” Detmers said. “I don’t know.”
He got a crucial assist from official scorer Mel Franks in the seventh.
Brett Phillips reached with one out when first baseman Jared Walsh ranged to his right and bobbled Phillips’ grounder. The crowd of 39,313 at Angel Stadium cheered and Walsh clapped moments later when the videoboard showed the play was ruled an error.
“That was an error,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “No one would have felt worse than Jared.”
Otherwise, Detmers (2-1) hardly had any close calls. He retired his first 15 hitters before Taylor Walls drew a lead-off walk in the sixth. Third baseman Anthony Rendon then made a nice leap to snag Vidal Bruján’s line drive, and Kevin Kiermaier ground into a double play to end the inning.
Detmers made a nice defensive play in the fifth when he quickly snagged a grounder up the middle by Randy Arozarena.
“I don’t know if it has really sank in yet,” Detmers said. “It is something I have always dreamed of. I can’t even process it right now.”
The son of a former minor league pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, Detmers was the 10th overall pick in the 2020 draft out of the University of Louisville and made his big-league debut last year.
He came into the game with a 2-4 career mark and a 6.33 ERA — the third highest ERA entering a no-hitter since earned runs became an official stat in 1913, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He was 1-1 with a 5.32 ERA in his first five starts this season.
The Rays simply couldn’t barrel up Detmers, who mixed a fastball averaging 92 mph with a looping curveball, a changeup and a slider.
It was the first time Detmers had gotten an out in the seventh inning or later since June 7, 2019, for Louisville against East Carolina at an NCAA Super Regional. His previous career high in the majors was six innings last season against Houston. He’d never thrown more than 97 pitches in a big league game, either.
The last Angels’ no-hitter was on July 12, 2019, when Taylor Cole and Félix Peña combined for one against the Seattle Mariners in the team’s first home game following the death of starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Detmers is the youngest Angel to throw a no-hitter and the first lefty since Clyde Wright on July 3, 1970 against Oakland.
Five New York Mets’ pitchers combined for this year’s first no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 29. There were a record nine no-hitters across the majors last season. The previous by a rookie was Arizona’s Tyler Gilbert against San Diego last Aug. 14 in his first start.
Mike Trout had his second multi-homer game of the season and drove in three for the Angels, who have won six of their last seven.
Trout had a two-run shot off Corey Kluber (1-2) in the second to extend Los Angeles’ lead to 5-0 and then added another two-run homer in the eighth for the 22nd multi-homer game. Trout has nine homers this season, which is tied for second in the American League.
Chad Wallach and Anthony Rendon also went deep. Rendon homered in his first major league at-bat as a left-handed hitter in the eighth when Phillips, usually an outfielder, took the mound in the blowout.
Wallach, a journeyman catcher in his 80th career game, was behind the plate for Detmers with regular catchers Max Stassi and Kurt Suzuki on the COVID-19 injured list. He and his dad, Tim Wallach, are the first father-son combo to each homer for the Angels.
Velazquez added three hits as the Angels had a season-high 18.
Kluber had a rough outing for the Rays. The right-hander went three innings and allowed eight runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts.
