Yusei Kikuchi did not have his best stuff on Saturday, but the Los Angeles Angels still managed to rally from an early deficit to down the Detroit Tigers, 7-4, in the second game of three at Comerica Park. The Halos improved to 55-61, picking up their third victory of August.

The left-hander ran into trouble in the second as Wenceel Perez lined a leadoff triple to left, coming around to score as Andy Ibáñez’s RBI single quickly got Detroit on the board. Ibáñez would later come around to score following a double from Javier Báez and a sac fly off the bat of Jake Rogers.

Kikuchi would work around a walk and a single in the third to keep the Tigers from adding on any further, but once again lapsed in the fourth. A pair of leadoff singles from Báez and Dillon Dingler set the table, giving Detroit runners on the corners with nobody out. 

Matt Vierling added a sac fly while Gleyber Torres smacked a run-scoring double to give the Tigers their third and fourth runs of the game. Kikuchi managed to escape the frame and muster through the fifth before seeing his day come to an end.

Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

It was a step backwards for the 34-year-old, who headed into Saturday coming off of his longest and most efficient appearance since late June. He dealt six innings of four-hit baseball against the Rays on August 4, allowing only a single run and striking out seven.

Luckily, the Los Angeles lineup was there to back Kikuchi up, ultimately allowing him to improve his record to 6-7 despite an uneven performance. Taylor Ward and Jo Adell led the way for the batting order, combining for four hits and six of the seven Angel runs batted in overall.

Ward got things going early with an RBI double as Detroit left fielder Jahmai Jones could not make the grab on a sprinting effort, allowing Mike Trout to score with the game’s first run. He later struck again in the fifth, blasting his 27th home run of the season, a two-run shot that put the Angels out in front 6-4.

The homer was the finishing blow to Tigers’ starter Charlie Morton, who exited after 4 1/3 innings of work, allowing 6 runs as he fell to 7-10.

Jo Adell found his big moment earlier on, smacking a 3-run homer to left off Morton that erased the early deficit and made it 4-2 Angels. 

Both Ward and Adell have provided big swings all year long for Los Angeles, with Adell’s 25 bombs good for the sixth most in the American League and Ward’s 27 good for fourth. They weren’t the only Halos to go long, however, as Luis Rengifo’s solo shot in the eighth provided the insurance to make it 7-4.

A nice display of power combined with four shutout frames from the bullpen (Luis Garcia, Brock Burke, Ryan Zeferjahn and Kenley Jansen) was all that the Angels needed to finish off the win over the Tigers. Jansen notched his 21st save, bringing him even with Aroldis Chapman for sixth-best in the American League.

Sunday will provide them with a chance to claim their first series victory of the month. Jack Kochanowicz (3-9, 5.85 ERA) will take the mound against Detroit right-hander Casey Mize (10-4, 3.50 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. PT.