Davis Daniel stellar in first start as Angels top Tigers

Davis Daniel, who was recalled from the minors earlier in the day, threw eight scoreless innings to help the Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0 Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Daniel allowed four hits and no walks while striking out eight. He is tied for the second-most strikeouts in his first major league start in Angels history, trailing Rudy May's 10 in 1965.

Injuries and ineffectiveness have forced the Angels to dig into their minor league system to find capable starting pitchers, with Daniel being the latest to get the starting nod.

Daniel (1-0) had three career games before the start Thursday, going 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA in three relief appearances last season. But he didn't pitch well this season at Triple-A Salt Lake, going 5-4 with a 5.33 ERA in 14 starts.

Daniel allowed two hits in the first inning, but yielded just two more over the next seven innings. He retired the side in order in the second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Ben Joyce pitched the ninth to finish the shutout.

The Angels, who have won five of six, had just eight hits, but four of them went for extra bases, including home runs by Miguel Sano, Willie Calhoun and Luis Rengifo.

Tigers starter Jack Flaherty (5-5), who was 5-1 with a 1.56 ERA in his previous six starts, retired the side in order in the first inning, but Sano led off the second with a home run, his second of the season.

In the fourth inning, Flaherty struck out the first two batters, but Calhoun followed with a home run to increase the Angels' lead to 2-0.

The Angels got to Flaherty for three more runs in the fifth. Zach Neto led off with a double. Two outs later, he scored on a single by Nolan Schanuel. Schanuel stole second, then scored on Rengifo's two-run homer for a 5-0 lead.

Riley Greene had two of the four hits for the Tigers, who have lost three of four.

--Field Level Media