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ANAHEIM http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-jack-morris-jersey , Calif. (AP) — Andrelton Simmons homered and made more than one spectacular defensive play. Eric Young Jr. homered and made a phenomenal play with his glove as well.The Angels‘ star shortstop was more than willing to cede the spotlight to his journeyman teammate after a revitalizing win for Los Angeles.Simmons hit a two-run homer and dazzled in the field to lead the Angels to a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.Young hit his first homer of the season, drove in two runs and made a diving catch in deep center field to end the eighth inning for the Angels, who won for just the second time in eight games.“He was just trying to show off,” Simmons said with a laugh. “He was telling me he was following suit. But no, his diving play was way better, and his homer was a little farther than mine. Where the big boys hit it.”Simmons stepped up with two key hits and two runs while Mike Trout missed his fifth consecutive game with a sore right wrist for the Angels. The two-time AL MVP’s injury absence is the second-longest of his big-league career, surpassed only by the 39 games he missed last season with a torn thumb ligament.The Angels know they’ll struggle to score without their offensive centerpiece, but Simmons was determined to do something about it.“We had a tough road trip, missing Mike a little bit,” Simmons said. “We talked about it. We needed the big bats, needed to hit a couple of homers to fill in for Mike.”Not everything went well for the Angels in the opener of a six-game homestand: Nick Tropeano (5-6) pitched five innings of one-hit ball and retired 12 of his final 13 batters before heading to the clubhouse after just 62 pitches with shoulder tightness. The right-hander has struggled with shoulder problems for most of this season after missing the 2017 campaign for Tommy John surgery, including a 31-game stint on the disabled list that ended July 21.“There was just some stiffness Michael Fulmer Jersey , and when that’s the case coming back from T.J., you’re worried about the elbow if it’s overcompensating,” Tropeano said. “We’re just going to play it by ear for the next few days.”Nicholas Castellanos hit a first-inning homer, but the Tigers managed just three hits as their offensive slump continued. Detroit has scored just three runs over 39 innings while losing the first four games of its California road trip.“It’s the same story,” Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We’re not pushing enough runs across. We had some opportunities, and it didn’t happen.”Matthew Boyd (6-10) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, but took his sixth loss in nine starts overall.Kaleb Cowart ended his lengthy slump and tied it with an RBI double in the second inning before Simmons put the Angels ahead in the fourth with his seventh homer. Young added a solo shot to deep center in the fifth for his first big-league homer since last October.BIG JAMAfter Tropeano’s abrupt departure, Angels reliever Noe Ramirez allowed four straight baserunners, culminating in Jose Iglesias’ RBI single. Cam Bedrosian took over and escaped the bases-loaded, no-outs jam with a strikeout and a hard-hit grounder by Jeimer Candelario that was turned into a double play by Simmons’ superb throw in the pivot .“It’s a frustrating thing for (Candelario) because he hit it right on the screws, but it was right at (second baseman David Fletcher),” Gardenhire said. “That’s all you can do as a hitter.”Simmons made another impressive defensive play in the eighth Leonys Martin Jersey , diving to snag James McCann’s liner.TROUT’S OUCHTrout got a cortisone injection in his wrist Monday, likely ruling him out for this series — including the game on his 27th birthday Tuesday. Manager Mike Scioscia is hopeful Trout will feel good for the Angels’ weekend series against Oakland after an off day Thursday.OHTANI’S ARMShohei Ohtani went 0 for 2 with two walks as the Angels’ designated hitter, equaling the number of walks he drew in his previous 16 games combined.But Ohtani’s recovery from his sprained elbow ligament is progressing more quickly than the Angels hoped, Scioscia said. Ohtani is throwing from 120 feet. The club still has no timetable for getting its two-way rookie sensation back on the mound, but it is likely to be sooner than the club initially expected internally.UP NEXTTigers: Jacob Turner makes his season debut in Mike Fiers’ rotation spot after being recalled from Triple-A Toledo in the wake of Fiers’ trade to Oakland . Turner is a former top Tigers prospect who was traded in 2012, but returned on a minor-league deal this year.Angels: Andrew Heaney (6-7, 3.75 ERA) makes his second career start against the Tigers after taking a loss May 31 in Detroit. He’s a rare constant in the Halos’ tumultuous rotation, setting career highs already with 20 starts and 122 1/3 innings pitched. Maybe a successful weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team that haunts them like no other, was exactly what the Milwaukee Brewers needed to jump-start their late-season stretch drive.Because how the Brewers play in their division the rest of the way is central to their chances of advancing to the postseason.So far, they beat no other team in the National League Central like they do the Cincinnati Reds, who open a three-game series against the Brewers on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park. The Brewers are 9-4 against the Reds this season http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-alex-wilson-jersey , the most wins they have against any division opponent.Article continues below ...Brewers right-hander Junior Guerra (6-, facing the Reds for the second time in a row, opposes Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (6-4) in the series opener.The Brewers, despite taking four of six from the Reds and Pirates last week at Miller Park, are in third place in the division, a half-game behind the second-place Cardinals, although they still hold a tenuous lead for the second of the two NL wild-card berths. The Cardinals currently hold the first.However, the Brewers own the second-worst record against NL Central opponents at 25-30; only the Reds, at 20-38, are worse.The Brewers play 21 of their remaining 30 games within the division, or six more than the Cardinals and five more than the division-leading Chicago Cubs.Obviously, the Brewers can’t afford to slip up against the Reds Ryan Carpenter Jersey , who’ve been up at times but down for most of the season.Cincinnati started 3-15, righted itself by being one of the majors’ hottest teams for a month at midseason, but have lost 22 of 35 since the All-Star break, including five in a row.And the Reds will be coming off a four-game sweep by the Cubs at Wrigley Field, a series that reminded the Reds how well contending teams are capable of playing. The Reds hadn’t been swept in four games at Wrigley in 73 years.“If you play a really good team, and they play good, you’re going to have a tough series,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said.Brewers manager Craig Counsell wouldn’t say his team played great while winning two of three weekend games from Pittsburgh, but it was far better than the Pirates’ five-game sweep of the Brewers at PNC Park immediately before the All-Star break. Milwaukee is 4-9 against Pittsburgh.“Winning series is going to lead to a lot of good things,” Counsell said. “We’ll take it. We got through it.”The Reds, despite being out of contention almost since their dreadful start, realize they can be a factor the rest of the way. Fifteen of their next 22 games are against contenders Jeimer Candelario Jersey , including six games against the Brewers.“One thing we have to keep in mind is a lot of our games the rest of the season are very meaningful games,” right-hander Homer Bailey told reporters after the Reds lost 9-0 on Sunday to the Cubs. “Especially in our division. … They are going to be coming out and hunting us. Just from being in those positions before, those are the games you really need to win. You know that they are going to be coming after us.”The Brewers are 5-2 at Great American Ball Park this season, but they dropped their last two there on June 30 and July 1.Guerra didn’t figure in the decision as the Brewers lost 9-7 to the Reds at Miller Park last Tuesday despite allowing 10 hits and seven runs (two earned) in 5 1/3 innings.All four runs that Guerra allowed in the fourth inning were unearned, partly the result of a throwing error, a run-scoring passed ball and a line drive that should have been an out but instead struck an umpire. Three hits didn’t leave the infield.“It was one of the hardest innings of my career,” Guerra said. “I guess there’s always a first. I don’t really know what to say about that inning.”Guerra will start against the Reds for the fourth time this season. He was 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in the first three and 2-1 with a 4.76 ERA against them in seven career appearances. Eugenio Suarez is 4-for-9 (.444) against him with one homer and two RBIs.DeSclafani is the Reds’ best pitcher during the second half of the season, going 2-1 with a 1.95 ERA in four August starts. But he lost his last start, giving up five runs (four earned) in six innings of a 7-1 loss to the Cubs on Thursday.DeSclafani didn’t get the decision during a 6-4 Reds loss to the Brewers on June 28, when he gave up four runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He is 2-2 with a 4.45 ERA in six career appearances against Milwaukee.
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