Detmers' dip in velocity prompts exit before Trout's SF sinks Twins

ANAHEIM -- While Mike Trout showed more signs of getting out of his recent funk at the plate, lefty Reid Detmers had to leave Wednesday afternoon’s 4-3 victory over the Twins at Angel Stadium after feeling something in his left forearm while pitching in the eighth inning.

After giving up a two-out double to James Outman on a 2-2 slider, Detmers was met at the mound by interim manager Ray Montgomery and head athletic trainer Mike Frostad. They had a brief discussion and Detmers left the series finale, as they had noticed his velocity was down a few ticks.

Detmers said he couldn’t generate much power behind his pitches, but he believes it’s not an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament that would require Tommy John surgery. He will undergo an MRI exam on Thursday as a precaution.

“It’s not in the inside of the elbow, it’s more on the outer half,” Detmers said. “But we don’t know anything yet, obviously. We’ll get an MRI tomorrow and see what’s going on.”

Detmers' velocity was down during his outing as his slider was roughly 3 mph slower than his season average, while his four-seam fastball was down 2 mph. But he showed no signs of any discomfort before coming out of the game outside of shaking his left arm a bit before exiting.

“Honestly, I didn't feel much,” Detmers said. “Just felt like it wasn't coming out. Just kind of just felt that not a whole lot of power behind it. I wouldn't say I'm too concerned. Obviously, there's what's going on, but nothing hurts. I'm not in pain or anything.”

Detmers, who has had a solid season in relief, was replaced by right-hander Robert Stephenson. Stephenson intentionally walked Byron Buxton, but he struck out Austin Martin to escape the jam.

Stephenson ended up picking up the win, as Bryce Teodosio tripled to open the eighth and scored on Trout’s sacrifice fly. Trout went 1-for-2 with two RBIs, as he also connected on an RBI single in the third before Zach Neto hit a two-run blast. After an extended slump, Trout is hitting .300 (9-for-30) over his last nine games. But he still hasn’t homered since Aug. 6, a span of 122 plate appearances, which is the longest drought of his career.

“Just working hard with hitting guys down there trying to get back to my old self,” Trout said. “I’ve been getting under a lot of things. Something was forcing me to fall back and swing up. But I did some stuff with my hands that allowed me to get into a good spot and go for it and attack the ball.”

Detmers, 26, has fared well in his first full season in relief, posting a 3.96 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 25 walks in 63 2/3 innings. He was a candidate to be part of the rotation, but he lost out on the final spot in Spring Training to right-hander Jack Kochanowicz.

Kochanowicz has struggled this year with a 6.81 ERA in 23 starts and is currently at Triple-A Salt Lake, but Detmers pitched so well as a reliever they didn’t want to switch him back to starting this year. With only 18 games left, there’s a chance Detmers could be shut down as a precaution.

Montgomery said he’s hopeful that Detmers will be fine, but the skipper said it’s too early to know what to expect.

“He just didn't feel right,” Montgomery said. “He said, ‘It's not coming out and I don’t like the way it feels.’ It was in his forearm, so we weren't going to take any chances. So he's inside getting looked at to make sure everything's OK.”