MLB
  Scores
  Schedules
  Standings
  Statistics
  Transactions
  Injuries: AL | NL
  Players
  Weekly Lineup
  Message Board
  Minor Leagues
  MLB Stat Search

Clubhouses

Sport Sections
  Monday, Sep. 4 5:05pm ET
Easley: three hits, three RBI for Tigers
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

DETROIT (AP) -- Hideo Nomo's serious facial expression rarely changes.

On Monday night, though, he smiled when he was asked about the run support he got in the Detroit Tigers' 5-0 victory over the Anaheim Angels.

Hideo Nomo wanted to pitch the ninth, but Danny Patterson finished up the Tigers' 5-0 victory over Anaheim.

"I always want to not give up runs in the early innings," Nomo said through an interpreter. "Today the support in the early innings was a nice mixture."

Nomo pitched eight shutout innings and Damion Easley was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI for the Tigers, who have won four of five and remained five games behind Cleveland, which leads the AL wild-card race.

Nomo (6-11) won for the third time in his last four decisions. He allowed five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

The Tigers have scored two or fewer runs in 10 of his 28 starts, including seven losses.

Nomo hasn't pitched a shutout since September 1996 when, while pitching for Los Angeles, he threw a no-hitter at Colorado's Coors Field. He questioned manager Phil Garner's decision to lift him after eight innings and 115 pitches.

"I could finish," Nomo said.

Garner said he was looking ahead when he put Danny Patterson in to pitch a perfect ninth.

"You let (Nomo) go out again, and soon he's up to 125 pitches," Garner said. "If he gets a couple of outs, you want to leave him in but he could get up to 135. We're going to need Nomo down the stretch. Patterson's been hot and he needed some work."

Nomo's toughest inning was the fifth, when he walked his first two batters before Mo Vaughn hit into a double play and Tim Salmon struck out.

"He had great control of his off-speed pitch," said the Angels' Garret Anderson, who had two hits. "That's pretty much the pitcher he is. Just a two-pitch pitcher. He had that other pitch working. He threw it pretty much where he wanted to throw it."

The Angels (68-69) dropped below .500 for the first time since they were 20-21 on May 18. They've lost five straight and are 6½ games behind Cleveland.

Anaheim came in after losing three straight at Chicago, where the White Sox scored 35 runs.

"We didn't play bad there; we just got outslugged," Angels infielder Adam Kennedy said. "Tonight we didn't have it. We played bad."

Scott Karl (0-1) lost in his second start since the Angels acquired him Aug. 22 from Colorado, allowing five runs -- four earned -- and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

"We didn't really support him in the field like we should've. And I think a little support in the field and his numbers are a little better," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He was obviously better this time and that's good to see."

Detroit got an unearned run in the second when Tony Clark reached on third baseman Troy Glaus' two-base throwing error and scored on Deivi Cruz's single.

Easley hit a two-run double to make it 3-0 in the fourth after singles from Cruz and Brad Ausmus.

Detroit added a pair of two-out runs in the sixth when Easley hit an RBI double and scored on Bobby Higginson's single.

Cruz, Ausmus and Easley were a combined 8-for-12 from the 8-9-1 spots in the order, scored four runs and drove in four.

"You have to have good games from other than the middle of the lineup, and we had that tonight," Garner said.

Game notes
Ausmus was 3-for-3 and is batting .361 (13-for-36) in his last 11 games. ... The Angels' five-game losing streak matches their season high (Aug. 1-6). ... The Tigers have won 23 of their last 35 games, including three of four on a current seven-game homestand. ... RHP Mark Fyhrie, on the disabled list since Aug. 12 with right elbow inflammation, was activated and allowed Higginson's RBI single, pitching one-third of an inning. ... The Angels have been shut out four times, the previous July 23 at Oakland.
 


ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard

Anaheim Clubhouse

Detroit Clubhouse


RECAPS
Boston 5
Seattle 1

Cleveland 5
Tampa Bay 1

Oakland 10
Toronto 0

Texas 5
Chi. White Sox 4

Baltimore 3
Minnesota 2

Detroit 5
Anaheim 0

NY Yankees 4
Kansas City 3

Cincinnati 6
NY Mets 2

St. Louis 4
Montreal 2

Colorado 6
Chicago Cubs 2

Florida 5
Houston 2

San Francisco 3
Philadelphia 0

Pittsburgh 12
Los Angeles 1

San Diego 4
Milwaukee 3