Grayson Rodriguez picks up victory vs. Tigers as Angels take second consecutive series

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on May 28, 2026

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — The initial goal for Grayson Rodriguez was simply to get back on a major league mound and feel healthy.

The more important stage is to actually pitch well, and Rodriguez finally did that in the Angels’ 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday afternoon.

Although Rodriguez had shown flashes of his old self in his first two starts, in this game he made it through five innings while allowing just a solo homer.

“Definitely taking steps in the right direction,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not completely where I want to be yet, but just use it as building blocks to keep going on and keep pushing forward.”

The same applies for the Angels (22-25), who have won five of their last six games. They’ve won back-to-back series for the first time this season.

“We’ve still got so much baseball left in front of us,” Rodriguez said. “Just got to stack these wins on top of each other and keep going and keep winning series. We’ll be where we want to be if we can keep doing that.”

While their chances of getting back into contention are still remote, they can still make something of this season if they develop a long-term rotation. Rodriguez, who is under control for three years after this one, would be a big piece of that puzzle.

The 26-year-old right-hander was one of the most promising young pitchers in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles in 2023 and 2024, until injuries stalled his career. Before returning to the mound earlier this month, he’d been out of the big leagues for more than 21 months.

On Thursday, he gave up a solo homer to Wenceel Perez in the second inning, and nothing else. He struck out five and walked two. Rodriguez’s fastball averaged 96 mph and he hit 98 mph.

“I thought he was good today,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Some good curveballs. The change-up was going a little bit better today. I thought it was better than the last two starts. The velo was holding up pretty good. It was a good start for him.”

Rodriguez said the piece of his game that he was most satisfied with was his ability make pitches when he got behind in the count.

“I fell behind some guys and was able to get back in it,” he said. “I was down 3-0 maybe twice or three times. I ended up coming back and getting an out. I think that was important was just being able to still hang in there even being down in the count.”

Although Rodriguez had been up to 97 pitches in his previous start, manager Kurt Suzuki pulled him at 88 pitches because the Tigers had the top of their order due in the sixth, with two left-handed hitters.

The Angels’ bullpen got the job done after that. Left-hander Drew Pomeranz worked a perfect inning in his first outing after two weeks on the injured list. Right-handers José Fermin and Sam Bachman got through the next two innings, including Bachman escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.

Ryan Zeferjahn worked the ninth because the Angels had taken a six-run lead by then.

The top four hitters in the Angels’ lineup — Zach Neto, Mike Trout, Vaughn Grissom and Jorge Soler — combined for six hits, including four extra-base hits. They drove in six runs. Trout had two doubles.

For the first four innings, the Angels had no runs and just two hits, but they came to life in the fifth.

Jo Adell started the inning with a double. One out later, he went to third on a wild pitch. The Tigers then brought the infield in, and Sebastian Rivero punched a ground ball through the left side to tie the game.

Donovan Walton followed with a single. Neto pulled a double down the left-field line, driving in Rivero. After Trout was intentionally walked to load the bases, Grissom hit a sacrifice fly.

In the eighth, Trout singled and then scored all the way from first on Grissom’s hit into left center. The ball did not get past the outfielders, but the center fielder was shaded toward right-center, giving Trout extra time. Grissom went all the way to third on the throw home. He then scored on a Jorge Soler single.

Trout’s second double of the game drove in two more runs in the eighth.

“It’s nice when they keep adding on,” Suzuki said. “We score and then they add on more and then they add on more. I think if we can keep that trend — obviously we know it’s not as easier said than done – but I think that’s a good thing where we (score) early and then we kind of keep going.”

The Angels, whose offense has been too dependent on homers for much of the season, did not hit a homer Thursday. They were 4 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

“It’s hard to hit homers in the big leagues,” Suzuki said, “and so I think having another dynamic — we walked, got some big doubles in there — in the later innings. I thought that was good.”