DETROIT — If the Angels can keep winning games in this critical week, allowing them to keep pushing toward what they hope will be a playoff berth, someday they might look back at this one as The Redemption Game.
Outfielder Mickey Moniak was both the hero and the goat, and Aaron Loup picked up the last three outs to continue turning his season around after a dreadful start.
It added up to a 7-6, 10-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, the start of a string of games the Angels need to win as they steam toward next week’s trade deadline.
The Angels (52-49) have won six out of their last seven games. They are four games out of the final American League wild-card spot, pending the Toronto Blue Jays’ game against the Dodgers on Tuesday night.
“Obviously I think we all know what we’re playing for,” starting pitcher Griffin Canning said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s pretty or ugly. We got the win.”
This one was pretty for 8½ innings, with the Angels taking a business-like four-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. Canning pitched five innings and relievers José Soriano and Matt Moore combined for three scoreless innings.
Closer Carlos Estévez was on the mound in the ninth, even though it was not a save situation. An errant throw on a routine grounder to second baseman Luis Rengifo opened the door. The Angels still had a two-run lead with two outs when Spencer Torkelson hit a drive to deep center field.
Moniak, who had earlier made two excellent catches in the gap, got turned around as he drifted back to the warning track, allowing the ball to drop. It was a game-tying, two-run double. All four runs in the inning were unearned.
“I think I catch that ball nine times out of 10,” Moniak said. “I think the wind pulled it to left field a little bit.”
Moniak said he should have turned his body all the way around, but he instead just leaned back and tried to make a basket catch.
“I apologized to Esty,” Moniak said. “That one’s on me. Just glad we pulled it out.”
One of the reasons the Angels were able to pull it out was because Moniak yanked a double down the right field line in the top of the 10th, driving in Mike Moustakas, the Angels’ automatic runner.
Moniak, who earlier in the game had extended his hit streak to 15 games with a single, said it was crucial to erase the defensive mistake from his head as he went to the plate.
“It happened,” he said. “It’s unfortunate. I wish I could take it back. But what’s done is done. I had a job to do going up to the plate.”
After his double, Moniak was at third with one out when he got too far off the base on a ball that dribbled away from catcher Jake Rogers, who threw him out.
With the Angels then taking just a one-run lead into the bottom of the 10th, they handed the ball to Loup.
Loup retired all three hitters, striking out the final two, to lock up the victory.
“That was fun,” Loup said. “We’ve been playing some good baseball, so to help the team any way I could, I’m happy to do whatever they need me to do. To be able to go out there and pitch well, like I have been lately, is nice.”
Lately, Loup has been a different pitcher. He had an ERA of 7.00 when he went on the injured list with a hamstring issue in May. While he was out, he made two critical decisions. One was to throw more fastballs.
The second involved his body.
“I’m not as fat,” Loup said.
He said he got on a scale during his rehab assignment and noticed he was “a little thicker than I’d like to be, so I made it a point to put in a little extra work and hopefully trim down a little bit, get myself in a little better shape, to be able to move better and pitch better hopefully.”
Loup also decided to move a little bit more toward third base on the rubber. All of that helped him pitch more effectively.
He has a 2.93 ERA in his last 16 games.
“I’ve gotten off to slow starts like this before and you just got to trust the process and keep working,” Loup said. “Keep doing what you’re doing and know that it’s gonna turn at some point. I knew I could pitch well. It was just a matter of getting things to go the way I needed them to.”
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