Daz Cameron’s second home run in eight days — this one with his father watching in attendance — and Jonathan Schoop’s eighth home run of June weren’t enough to overcome an early Angels barrage. Shohei Ohtani’s third homer in two nights powered a four-run third inning to send the Tigers to their third consecutive loss in the series, this one an 8-3 defeat on Saturday at Angel Stadium.
Both Ohtani’s two-run homer, his 22nd homer of the year, and Jared Walsh’s two-run shot three batters later came off veteran right-hander Wily Peralta, who lasted five innings in his audition for a rotation spot but gave up five runs on six hits within the first three innings (seven hits total).
Peralta started in what had been Matthew Boyd’s slot before the Tigers lefty went on the 10-day injured list with muscular tendinitis in his left arm. He isn’t expected to start again until after the All-Star break, so the Tigers will need Peralta or another pitcher to step up as an alternative to the bullpen starts they had tried with Spencer Turnbull before Matt Manning joined the rotation Thursday for his Major League debut.
Peralta’s first Major League start since 2017 was a mixed bag in that result. His fastball averaged 93.8 miles per hour, topping out at 96 mph on a fastball that fanned Ohtani in the first inning.