ANAHEIM, Calif. — Not much is known yet about 2026, but the bullpen was huge for the Angels on Saturday night.
In the seventh inning, left-hander Reid Detmers loaded the bases with one out, tying the game and the bullpen closed the game from there, giving the Angels a chance to win.
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The Angels (13-21) did not pass up the opportunity, relying on a single by third baseman Oswald Peraza in the 10th inning to beat the New York Mets (11-22) 4-3, ending a seven-game losing streak.
“I’m really proud of them,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “They struggled, they battled, Reed gave it his all, (Sam Bachman) came in to stop the bleeding, (Ryan Zefoyan) was awesome. They kept going. We faced good pitching tonight, they kept having good at-bats and good at-bats, and in the end, it was great to finish the game.”
The bullpen heroics began with Bachman.
In the tying seventh inning, he faced the Mets’ top lineup, got into a one-out situation, and was nearly perfect. Bachman got third baseman Bo Bichette to pass to Peraza, who hit a home run and then struck out designated hitter Juan Soto to escape the jam.
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Bachman got out in the eighth inning, striking out the first two batters, then walked second baseman Marcus Semien out to complete an inning of one, two and three.
Bachman has a 3.18 ERA this season and, along with right-hander Chase Silseth, is one of the Angels’ only reliable relievers so far this season.
“He’s great,” Suzuki said. “He did everything we asked him to do, one inning, two innings, days in a row, he did it all.”
Entering today’s game, the bullpen had the second-worst ERA in baseball at 5.69.
In the ninth inning, Zevyan caught the ball and didn’t let go until the end of the game.
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“Any time my name is called, I want the ball,” Zevyan said. “I’m going to keep going until we win the game. It’s important now to have some success in these situations and gain some confidence moving forward.”
He pitched a clean one-two-three in the ninth and exited in the tenth. Coming out of the second inning has been a struggle for Zeevyan this season, but he flipped the script when the Angels needed him most.
Zefoyan faced immediate adversity in extra innings when catcher Sebastián Rivero called a catcher’s interference call on the first batter, putting runners on first and second with no outs.
He struck out Bichette, hit a double, moved the leadoff man to third, and after intentionally walking Soto, he got catcher Francisco Alvarez to pop out to end the inning.
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Bachman and Zevyan pitched 3 ⅔ innings of shutout ball, allowing just one baserunner to give the Angels a solid chance to win this game.
“I think it’s a testament to our bullpen, our whole team, taking it one day at a time, one pitch at a time,” Bachman said of the bullpen’s contribution tonight. “Keep playing good baseball though, so keep building on that.”
The bullpen has done its job. Then it’s the attacker’s turn to go to work.
The Angels loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, but got themselves into trouble when two flyouts weren’t deep enough to score from third base.
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With the score 0-2, Peraza got his third hit of the night, a line drive to left-center field that won the game.
“When I control my body, I can see the court,” Peraza said. “I’m in control of my body now. I’ve put a lot of work into my body. I feel good.”
The Angels snapped a seven-game losing streak and look to win Sunday’s series against the Mets.