Anaheim, Calif. — The music was bumping and thumping inside the Tigers' clubhouse. The mood was unabashedly celebratory. There are no degrees of victory — especially when it ends a dour four-game losing skid. That the Tigers nearly gave away a six-run lead in the ninth, that's merely a footnote.
"A win is a win," said catcher Carson Kelly, whose three-run homer in the fifth went from add-on runs to the winning runs. "It doesn't matter what it looks like. We're going to ride this one into Minnesota."
The 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 Angels with a 7-6 win, surviving a five-run outburst in the bottom of the ninth.
"You can't complain about a win," manager AJ Hinch said. "Especially with how things have gone. We're going to get out of here with a win, have a happy flight and have a day off (Monday). We obviously needed this, no matter how it came."
The Tigers also may have fed off the fury of starting pitcher Casey Mize. Especially early in the game.
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.
"I just told myself to quit missing high arm-side and start shoving the ball in the strike zone," Mize said. "Just my sights were a little off and it allowed for some sailed fastballs. Just lower my sights and compete in the zone and get myself out of the mess I created for myself."
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.
"Zeros are good," Mize said. "The scoreboard was good for us today. Obviously important to have a good one today. It's been a rough weekend for us here. I wanted to do my part and provide some value so we could salvage a win. That's what we did."
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.
"He made some big pitches when he really needed it," Kelly said. "It was a 1-0 game (in the second inning) and he made those big pitches and got us out of that jam. That's what it comes down to, big pitches in big spots and him keeping the score there allowed us to go get a rally."
The outing ended prematurely for Mize, 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.
"That's what it felt like," Mize said. "We're going to see how the next couple of days play out. But that's what it felt like. I'm hoping for that."
He continued to try to stretch it out but the Tigers were taking no chances and removed him from the game.
"Once he showed what he said was a cramp on the mound, he was coming out of the game," Hinch said. "His day was about to end (after six innings). Now we will have to see. We will get him tested and we'll see how it is after the adrenaline wears off and see what the doctor says."
By then, the offense had built a seven-run cushion.
Ibanez ended up getting a pair of hits off Angels’ lefty starter Tyler Anderson. That raised his season average against southpaws to .403 (27 for 67).
Malloy’s dash capped a three-run fourth inning. The Tigers already scored once in the inning on a strange 5-2-3 putout by Urshela. Wenceel Perez had doubled Kelly to third.
Third baseman Miguel Sano threw home trying to get Kelly but the throw was late. O’Hoppe smartly fired to first and got Urshela by a step.
Malloy followed, crushing a first-pitch cutter off the base of the wall in right-center. The ball caromed back toward the infield unimpeded and Malloy scampered around the bases.
"That run felt like a mile," Malloy said, laughing. "That felt so long."
If he's ever hit an inside-the-park home run before, he can't remember it.
"Once I picked up (third base coach Joey Cora) and he's waving me, I'm like, 'Oh God, let's try to pick 'em up and lay 'em down,'" Malloy said. "It's always a fun play. I'm happy I was able to do it. I think everyone saw me tackle home plate."
Yeah, about that. Although there was no play at the plate, Malloy didn't so much slide across the plate as he did a face-plant on top of it.
"I don't know if Riley (Greene) has been working with him on his sliding," Hinch joked. "But I know we're going to be showing that in the hitter's meeting in 48 hours."
Greene has had his share face-plant dives, for sure.
"If anyone wants to blame me, it's not me," Malloy said with a smile. "It's Riley."
It was his third homer and the Tigers’ first inside-the-parker since Victor Reyes got one on Aug. 27, 2021.
The Tigers took a 7-1 lead into the ninth, with Kelly's 407-foot blast in the fifth providing what turned out to be the saving cushion because reliever Shelby Miller couldn't get the final three outs.
He gave up a three-run, game-winning home run to O'Hoppe on Friday and yielded two more homers in the ninth Sunday.
"We're just getting in some bad counts," Kelly said. "We need to work ahead. As a pitcher, when you get into bad counts, you have to come over the plate and that's when good hitters can execute. We will evaluate a little bit more and see what we need to make the adjustment and then we will make that adjustment."
He hit Taylor Ward in the head with a 93-mph fastball to start the inning and with two outs he walked back-up catcher Matt Thaiss. Neto followed with a long three-run homer to left. After Mickey Moniak reached on an infield single, Adell slugged a two-run homer to center.
Just like that, five runs are in, it's a one-run game and Tyler Holton had to come in to get the final out.
The Tigers (38-46), start a three-game series against the Twins at Target Field on Tuesday.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
