strikeout

DETROIT — Spencer Torkelson homered, doubled twice and drove in three runs, and five Detroit pitchers combined for a two-hitter as the Tigers snapped a season-worst seven-game home skid with a 4-0 win over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Despite winning two of their last three games, the struggling Tigers have lost nine of their last 11, 12 of 15 and 17 of their last 21. Detroit has lost six consecutive series for its longest such drought since 2021 and dropped eight of its last nine.

Drew Anderson (2-1) relieved Casey Mize to start the fifth and pitched three perfect innings with three strikeouts. Mize had six strikeouts, gave up two hits and walked one in four scoreless innings before leaving due to an undisclosed injury.

Kyle Finnegan pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before Kenley Jansen threw two-thirds of an inning before leaving the game with a trainer and Brenan Hanifee recorded the final out.

Colt Keith, Kevin McGonigle and Dillon Dingler each had two hits for the Tigers.

José Soriano (6-4) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings for the Angels, who had their season-best four-game winning streak halted.

Jorge Soler and Donovan Walton accounted for the Angels hits with singles.

Keith, McGonigle and Dingler hit consecutive singles to leadoff the first inning. Dingler’s hit drove in Keith, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Torkelson hit a solo homer to lead off the second.

Vaughn Grissom, who hit his first career grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs in LA’s 10-6 win Tuesday in the series opener, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout and walk.

Reid Detmers had a career-high 14 strikeouts and pinch runner Donovan Walton touched home on an errant throw in the ninth to give the Angels a walk-off 2-1 win at Angel Stadium and their first three-game sweep of the season.

With one out and runners on first and second in the ninth, third baseman Oswald Peraza grounded into a fielder’s choice at second. Rangers second baseman Justin Foscue bobbled the ball and first baseman Jake Burger couldn’t cleanly field his throw, allowing Walton to advance from second to score the game-winning run.

The Angels’ dugout erupted as Walton scored.

“That was amazing,” Peraza said. “I went up there and just put the ball in play, and not trying too much. I’m happy for the sweep. And yeah, amazing.”

The win sealed the Angels’ fourth series victory and second three-game winning streak of the year.

Detmers (1-5) entered on a three-game skid and finished dominantly after yielding a second-inning home run to Burger.

The left-handed pitcher ultimately gave up one hit and one run through eight innings — his first time pitching through eight innings in 2026 and first time since his no-hitter as a rookie in 2022 — while setting a new personal best with 14 strikeouts to zero walks.

“I mean, you realize it, but you don’t really think much of it,” Detmers said when asked if he was aware of his strikeout count. “It’s more just, ‘How can I get this next guy out?’ Like I said a little bit ago, just stick with the process, don’t overthink stuff. There’s not a whole lot that goes into it, to be honest with you …”

In front of an announced crowd of 36,903 on “Little League Day” in Anaheim, the 26-year-old used 96 pitches to lower his ERA from 5.07 to 4.57 in the win.

Rangers left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore (3-4) dueled, too, giving up one hit, two walks and one run through six innings.

“Gore was really good today,” Detmers said. “His stuff was really good today. He kept us off balance and got out of a couple of big situations.”

But the Angels’ offense, finishing with four hits, found a way to make do without solely relying on the long ball.

Mike Trout started the Angels’ scoring in the third with a two-out single to score Sebastián Rivero from second and tie the score at one.

The Angels’ run support behind Detmers was far from ideal. But Angels manager Kurt Suzuki is proud of his team’s effort in what was a pitcher’s duel.

“Like we talked about, you put the ball in play, things happen,” Suzuki said. “You never know what can happen when you put the ball in play. And you know, [Peraza] showed right there with the speed and putting it in play … forcing the issue a little bit.”

After Detmers and Gore sat down, Gavin Collyer (0-1) earned the loss, and Angels right-handed reliever Sam Bachman earned his first win of the year after striking out Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo to get out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth.

Glad his team won, Detmers considers Sunday’s game his second-best career performance after his no-hitter. Suzuki, who was Angels teammates with Detmers during his no-hitter from four seasons ago, also chimed in.

“Yeah, I mean, never discredit a no-hitter, right?” Suzuki said. “A no-hitter is special. But for him, I think what made [Sunday] … he was better was the strikeouts, right? It was not many balls put in play, that’s for sure … He struck out 14 guys, [and] to do it under 100 pitches, that’s even more impressive. That means you’re getting in, getting out of there really quick. So, I think … just probably the best start he’s had.”

Despite the recent uproar among fans frustrated with the Angels, whose 20-34 record is tied for worst in MLB with the Rockies, the Angels aim to stay hot.

“Well, as you know, we need more wins,” Peraza said. “[We’re] working very hard every day for that result.”

It will be JSerra taking on La Mirada for the Southern Section Division 1 softball championship next weekend in Irvine after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday.

JSerra, behind 14 strikeouts from Liliana Escobar, defeated No. 2-seed Norco 2-0 to advance to its first championship game. Annabel Raftery hit a solo home run and Magenta De Arte added an RBI single.

Alison Ortega threw a complete game with seven strikeouts in La Mirada’s 5-1 win over La Habra. Freshman Rylee Thurmond had three hits.

Whittier Christian 11, St. Paul 8: A grand slam by Danni Lopez in the seventh powered the Heralds to victory in a Division 2 semifinal game. Whittier Christian will face Mater Dei in the final.

Mater Dei 4, San Clemente 2: Tulutululelei Salue hit a two-run home run and Aly Carrillo added a solo home run for the Monarchs in a Division 2 semifinal.

Great Oak 4, North Torrance 3: Regan Spillers delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning in a Division 3 semifinal. Isabella Paun finished with three hits. Great Oak will face Riverside Prep, a 4-2 winner over Dos Pueblos.

Oxnard 1, Monrovia 0: Sophomore Destinee Herrera threw the shutout, striking out eight with no walks, in a Division 4 semifinal. Oxnard will face Mission Viejo, a 5-3 winner over Burbank Burroughs.

Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell was scratched from his scheduled start against the Angels on Friday, a person close to the situation but not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Times.

Snell started the season on the injured list with left shoulder fatigue and was brought back from his rehab assignment early to replace Tyler Glasnow, who was placed on the injured list last week with back spasms. In a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, Snell gave up four earned runs on six hits, with two walks and five strikeouts over three innings and 77 pitches.

The reason for the move was not immediately clear.

The Dodgers listed right-hander Will Klein as the starting pitcher when the team posted its lineup Friday afternoon, signaling that it would be a bullpen game.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

It was only last week when Huntington Beach was unbeaten in the Sunset League and running away with the the league title. Now Newport Harbor (13-3) is closing fast, pulling to within one game of the Oilers (14-2) after Gavin Guy threw a five-hit shutout on Tuesday to beat the Oilers 1-0.

Guy struck out eight and walked. one. Keoni Wun drove in the game’s only run in the third inning with an RBI single. The two teams close the regular season with games Wednesday at Huntington Beach and Friday at Newport Harbor.

Marina 5, Fountain Valley 1: Jaxon Vilardi threw the complete game for Marina.

Edison 16, Corona del Mar 3: Cody Kruis had three hits and five RBIs for Edison, including three doubles.

St. John Bosco 7, Mater Dei 0: Julian Garcia struck out 10 in six innings while giving up no hits and Jaden Jackson and James Clark each hit home runs to help the Braves clinch at least a share of the Trinity League championship. Jack Champlin added two RBIs.

JSerra 8, Santa Margarita 7: Blake Bowen hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh for JSerra.

Orange Lutheran 3, Servite 0: Cooper Sides gave up three hits in six innings and Marcus Greis got the save.

Sierra Canyon 11, Loyola 2: Brayden Goldstein hit a home run and double, Theo Swafford had three hits and Carl McMullen had three hits and three RBIs for the Trailblazers.

Harvard-Westlake 12, Chaminade 3: Nate Blum had three hits, Ira Rootman contributed two hits and two RBIs and James Tronstein homered for the Wolverines.

Bishop Alemany 5, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 3: Mikey Martinez had two hits for the Warriors and also got the save.

St. Francis 4, Crespi 2: Caysen Sullivan struck out six in 6 1/3 innings.

Ganesha 2, Palos Verdes 1: Logan Schmidt gave up two hits in five innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Brentwood 7, Viewpoint 0: Jack Kaplan threw a perfect game with 15 strikeouts.

Santa Monica 6, Culver City 5: The Vikings scored three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to clinch the Ocean League championship. The Vikings are 23-0 in league play the last two years.

Temecula Valley 16, Vista Murrieta 0: The Golden Bears clinched the Southwestern League title. Taden Krogsgaard threw a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and one walk.

Newbury Park 5, Westlake 4: Jack Klein had an RBI single in the sixth for the Panthers. Jaxson Neckien and Cade Atkinson each had two hits for Westlake.

Agoura 12, Thousand Oaks 2: Tyler Starling had three hits, including a home run, and Jordan Tagawa also had three hits for Agoura.

Calabasas 10, Oaks Christian 9: With two out in the top of the seventh, Oaks Christian had a chance to tie when the pitch went to the backstop. But it was retrieved and Oaks Christian’s runner was tagged out at the plate trying to score, ending the game. Michael Morales had three hits for Calabasas. Robert Sheffer hit two home runs for Oaks Christian. Luis Puls had a home run and six RBIs.

San Clemente 6, El Toro 0: Bob Erspamer struck out seven in five scoreless innings and Dax Conrad had two hits and two RBIs.

Softball

Murrieta Mesa 13, Great Oak 0: Tatum Wolff hit a three-run home run and also threw five shutout innings with nine strikeouts and no walks.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 3, Sierra Canyon 1: Nadia Ledon had two hits and Aliyah Garcia gave up two hits in six innings.

JSerra 5, Santa Margarita 2: Liliana Escobar struck out 14 for JSerra.

Mater Dei 6, Orange Lutheran 5: Aly Carrillo and Tulutululelei Sale each hit home runs in the Trinity League upset for the Monarchs.

Chaminade 11, Louisville 0: Finley Suppan struck out seven with no walks in six innings. Kyriel Fletcher had three hits.

Pitching coach Gus Rico was having dinner on Thursday when head coach Matt Mowry of Birmingham High complimented him on closer Aidan Martinez recording all seven of his outs on strikeouts.

“I had no idea,” Rico said. “Everything is a blur when I’m calling pitches.”

Martinez is throwing some blurs these days after returning this season following Tommy John surgery in June 2024. He touched 92 mph with his fastball and has been improving each week, getting better command and walking fewer batters. He has 28 strikeouts in 15 innings and three saves.

Birmingham is one game behind El Camino Real in the West Valley League standings going into showdown week, playing El Camino Real on Wednesday at home and Friday on the road. The Patriots need a sweep to have a chance at their first league title under Mowry, who prefers winning City titles.

With Martinez throwing so well, it would be a good strategy for opposing teams to make sure they are leading going into the last two innings.

“He’s got a bright future,” Rico said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

With more than 40 years of coaching experience, Tom Harp of Granada Hills sure knows how to pull off upsets in boys volleyball.

His team created some uncertainty for the City Section playoffs by knocking off the likely No. 1 seed, Chatsworth, on Monday with a five-set victory, 24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-12.

“It was an amazing match,” Harp said. “It was some of the hardest spikes I’ve seen in a long time from both teams.”

RJ Francisco of Granada Hills had 19 kills and setter Shawn Meza contributed 46 assists. Granada Hills pulled into a first-place tie with Chatsworth in the West Valley League after losing to the Chancellors earlier this season.

Baseball

Sylmar 7, Sun Valley Poly 0: The Spartans moved two games ahead of the Parrots in the Valley Mission League race. Matthew Torres threw a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Rickee Luevano had two hits and three RBIs. Tim Sepulveda added two hits.

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 2: It was a big day for JJ Saffie, who had a home run, double and two singles for the Royals. RJ De La Rosa had a triple.

Cleveland 2, Taft 0: Joshua Pearlstein threw 6⅓ scoreless innings, with Elliot Schoenwald getting the save. Sebastian Castaneda had two hits.

Banning 5, Narbonne 3: Oscar Chavez (4-1) threw a complete game and AJ Herrera went three for three to lead Banning.

Carson 2, San Pedro 1: Noah Sandoval threw a complete game for Carson.

San Fernando 1, Verdugo Hills 0: Alex Torres threw the shutout with seven strikeouts and no walks.

South Hills 4, Alta Loma 3: Gabriel Guerrero threw 1⅓ innings of scoreless relief to get the save for South Hills.

Long Beach Millikan 6, North Torrance 3: Austin Brett struck out seven in five innings.

Corona Centennial 15, King 8: Sophomore Ethan Miller hit two home runs and finished with five RBIs. The Huskies hit four home runs and rallied from a 5-3 deficit.

Corona 16, Eastvale Roosevelt 6: Sophomore Logan Pascarella had two hits and five RBIs and Trey Ebel added two hits and three RBIs to lead Corona.

Etiwanda 12, Chino Hills 11: Derick Kim hit a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning for Etiwanda. Jacob Jimenez hit a grand slam for Chino Hills. LJ Roellig had four hits, including three doubles, for Etiwanda. Jaxson Milius had three hits and three RBIs.

Softball

El Camino Real 3, Birmingham 1: Audrina Gonzalez struck out eight in seven innings. Gonzalez had an RBI double and Madison Franklin added an RBI triple.

San Pedro 13, Narbonne 0: Jenna Ortega had three hits, including two doubles.

Senior Jayden Rojas of Bell unleashed his best pitching performance of the season on Friday, giving up one hit and no walks while striking out 14 in a 1-0 win over Roosevelt. He also drove in the game’s only run with an RBI single in the fifth inning.

Rojas retired the first 18 Roosevelt batters until giving up a leadoff single in the seventh to break up his perfect game.

“I wanted to attack,” Rojas said. “I felt more confident throwing fastballs.”

Bell improved to 19-3 and 5-1 in the Eastern League.

“He was dialed in on the mound,” coach Frank Medina said. “Extremely efficient. He is usually plagued by 3-and-2 counts and walks, but today he had no walks and most of his 14 strikeouts came on four or less pitches. He was nasty.”

Granada Hills 5, Cleveland 2: The Highlanders are surging in the West Valley League after completing a two-game sweep of the Cavaliers this week to move into third place. Nicholas Penaranda had three RBIs and Foss Bohlen threw 5 1/3 innings of hitless relief.

Birmingham 2, Chatsworth 0: Nathan Soto threw six shutout innings and closer Aidan Martinez got three strikeouts in the seventh. Martinez also had three hits.

El Camino Real 5, Taft 3: The Royals broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the ninth to stay one game ahead in the West Valley League. RJ De La Rosa had two hits and two RBIs.

Carson 6, Banning 2: The Colts won the Marine League game. Nate Ruan, Noah Sandoval and Xavier Alllen each had two hits.

St. John Bosco 6, Santa Margarita 1: Noah Everly hit two home runs to help the Braves complete a three-game sweep of Santa Margarita.

Sierra Canyon 9, St. Francis 2: Brayden Goldstein homered, Cody Gallegos had three hits and Charlie Cummings had a two-run single.

Bishop Alemany 14, Chaminade 13: A bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh ended a wild game. Chaminade scored five runs in the top of the seventh for a 13-7 lead. Alemany scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to win. Eli Stephens hit two home runs and had six RBIs for Chaminade. Chase Stevenson had a two-run double for Alemany in the seventh.

Harvard-Westlake 10, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 4: The Wolverines took over first place in the Mission League with a three-game sweep. Freshman Nathan Englander hit a two-run home run and Ethan Price had a home run and two RBIs. Freshman Louis Lappe had two RBIs.

Loyola 12, Crespi 2: Matt Favela finished with two hits and three RBIs.

Cypress 2, El Dorado 0: Tate Belfanti struck out eight and gave up two hits for Cypress.

Los Alamitos 4, Corona del Mar 1: Logan Anderson threw a complete game and Parker Sanchez contributed two doubles.

Huntington Beach 11, Fountain Valley 1: Jared Grindlinger, Owen Bone, Ely Mason and Brayden Wood each had two RBIs.

Arlington 8, Paloma Valley 1: Carter Johnson had a three-run home run for Arlington.

Palos Verdes 3, Mira Costa 2: Kai Van Scoyoc had two hits and two RBIs and also threw five innings in Palos Verdes’ win.

Oaks Christian 7, Thousand Oaks 6: Jack Brinkman threw a scoreless seventh to pick up the save and Carson Sheffer homered for the Lions.

Newbury Park 8, Agoura 2: Carson Richter had a three-run home run and Jack Laubacher added a solo home run to power the Panthers.

Westlake 9, Calabasas 6: Leadoff hitter Blake Miller had three hits and three RBIs. Evan Barak hit a two-run home run for Calabasas.

Saugus 8, Hart 6: Joey Nuttall had three hits and four RBIs for Saugus, including a home run. Hayden Rhodes hit a home run and double for Hart.

Valencia 6, West Ranch 0: Steve Genovese threw a three-hit shutout.

Corona 9, Corona Centennial 3: Anthony Murphy hit two home runs and Tyler Ebel added another home run for Corona.

Corona Santiago 3, King 0: Troy Randall had two hits and picked up a two-inning save.

Norco 18, Eastvale Roosevelt 0: Jacob Melendez had four RBIs and Dylan Seward and Zion Martinez each had three hits for Norco.

Softball

El Camino Real 14, Taft 2: Madison Franklin had a home run, a double and four RBIs.

Orange Lutheran 7, Mater Dei 1: Sierra Nichols finished with four hits in the leadoff role and Carlie Snyder homered.