Ryan Johnson recovers after leadoff home run to save Angels from sweep against Tigers

ANAHEIM, Calif. -  Ryan Johnson has struggled throughout this season. After finding his way to the starting rotation after a stint in the bullpen, Johnson hasn't been able to find his rhythm on the mound and entered Sunday's game against the Detroit Tigers with a 1-4 record and 6.75 ERA.

He needed a confidence boost, which he found after five innings of one-run baseball where he allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out five. 

The Tigers did jump on him early when Kevin McGonigle ripped a solo home run into left field just three pitches into the game, though.

"I think it's the first time I've ever given up a leadoff homer, so that's a new experience," Johnson said. "But... just stay focused, stay in the game plan and attack from there."

Johnson jumps back in

Johnson found his composure right after and didn't find himself in real trouble again until the fifth inning. 

He got the first two outs easily enough, but a single and two walks to the next three batters loaded the bases and put the right-hander into real trouble. 

Still, he wasn't fazed and he got Dillon Dingler to swing through a sweeper outside the zone to strike him out and end the inning scoreless. 

Johnson walked off the mound beating his chest and showing some emotion with a newfound energy.

"It's a big moment and you've got to be able to give it your all and live with the results," Johnson said. "Today it went well and I was pretty fired up."

Soler Struggles

Jorge Soler has a big role with the Angels as their second-best source of power behind Mike Trout and the team's almost-always designated hitter, but as of late Soler has not been delivering at the plate. 

He's had an especially troublesome month of July, batting just .171 with five RBIs and two runs scored before Sunday's matchup and he notably hasn't homered since June 24. 

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki was asked about Soler's struggles as of late, but the skipper remained confident in Soler and said that he'd keep him in the four-spot in the lineup, as he did against the Tigers.

"With him there, the threat that he has, the professional that you know that he is, you give him an opportunity to get out of it," Suzuki said before Sunday's game. 

Soler didn't exactly "get out of it" against the Tigers, going 0-4, but he did at least come through with the bases loaded in the fifth inning with a RBI groundout to give the Angels a 2-1 lead and make Johnson the pitcher of record for the win.

It wasn't the kind of explosive display that Soler is used to producing, but it's still a clutch moment that built towards winning for the Halos and could lead to something more.

"I think that was a great team event," Suzuki said of Soler's RBI. "Battled with two strikes, ended up putting the ball in play and making things happen and we scored a run. We won by one. I know it didn't light up the box score, but at the same time, those are the things that go unnoticed, but are huge for the team and that's what winning baseball is."

A Close Finish

On top of Soler's RBI ground out, Oswald Peraza and Zach Neto both connected on RBI singles in the second and sixth innings respectively, giving the Angels a 3-1 lead going into the ninth with Ryan Zeferjahn coming in to close the game. 

Zeferjahn got off to a rough start after Riley Green launched a solo home run into the right field seats to cut the lead down 3-2, but he put the next three Tigers down in order to complete the save and help the Angels avoid a sweep.