ANAHEIM, Calif. – Justin Verlander was good.
He was certainly good enough to beat the Angels tonight. He threw eight strong innings. Shutout innings, almost. He allowed only three hits.
But the Detroit Tigers batters were bad. They were shut down by journeyman right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, totaling only three hits, and spoiled yet another stellar start from their ace right-hander in a 5-1 loss at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
The Angels scored the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth inning, stringing together three consecutive softly-hit singles to beat the Tigers for the 16th time in the past 18 games at home.