ANAHEIM —Magneuris Sierra was on the field in the blazing heat on Tuesday afternoon doing what he always does: working on his bunting.

Hours later, it paid off.

Sierra dropped down a perfect bunt to drive in the winning run in the Angels’ 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

“I was actually out there early today watching him do it,” Mike Trout said. “Preparing yourself for the moment is big. He got the sign there, to put it down, and if you prepare yourself, you get good results.”

Sierra, a 26-year-old role player who now is mostly a pinch-runner and defensive replacement, had come in to run in the eighth inning and hadn’t yet batted in the game when the situation found him in the 10th.

The Tigers had scored a run on Javy Baez’s two-out single in the top of the 10th, but the Angels tied it after a Baez error in the bottom of the inning. After a wild pitch and a walk, they had runners at first and third with one out and Sierra at the plate. Manager Phil Nevin gave Sierra the sign for a safety squeeze, although he said Sierra had the option to swing away if the infielders came in.

Sierra dropped a perfect bunt up the first base line. Left-hander Andrew Chafin pounced it and tried a jump throw to the plate, but it wasn’t in time to get speedy Andrew Velazquez, who had gotten a good jump off of third.

“I practice my bunts a lot because it can help me a lot in my career to get the guy on first to second or do a winning play,” Sierra said through an interpreter.

Up until the winning rally, the Angels had scored all three of their runs on solo homers by Trout, Mike Ford and Jo Adell.

Trout put the Angels on the board in the first inning with a homer to straightaway center field, his 31st of the season. It was Trout’s third homer in a span of six at-bats, from his final at-bat on Sunday. He also singled and doubled in that span.

Trout has now played in 17 games since missing a month with a back injury, but he’s showing no ill effects of either the injury or the time off. He has hit five homers in that span.

“I’m starting to obviously get some timing back,” Trout said. “Still missing some pitches, but I hit some balls hard.”

Ford and Adell hit back-to-back homers in the second inning, both to right field.

It was Adell’s seventh homer of the season, but the first to straightaway right field. That’s a good sign because the Angels have been trying to get him to shorten up his swing, rather than trying to pull everything and swinging for the fences.

“I loved Jo’s swing,” Nevin said. “We’ve really been working hard on keeping him through the ball and on that side of the field.”

Adell said this week that he believes he’s going in the right direction, even if the numbers don’t bear that out.

“It comes in glimmers,” Adell said. “I’m real positive about it. If I continue to work, things will progress and I’ll get more production over time.”

Adell demonstrated that he still has work to do when he struck out in his next two at-bats, swinging through a 90 mph fastball and flailing at a curveball in the dirt.

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Meanwhile, Angels starter Mike Mayers bounced back from a rough outing last week against the New York Yankees, when he allowed seven runs in four innings, including three homers. This one was more in line with the five scoreless innings he pitched in his previous start against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Mayers was charged with two runs in 5-2/3 innings.

“After the last outing, definitely focused this week on keeping the ball on the ground,” Mayers said. “Last week against New York, if I keep the ball in the yard it’s a different outing. That was the big focus and (catcher Max Stassi) and I were able to execute the game plan.”

He did not allow a run until the fourth, when the Tigers parlayed an infield single and a ground ball through the middle into a run. In the sixth, Mayers gave up a double to Willie Castro, who went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground ball.

Mayers left with a 3-2 lead, but he didn’t get the victory.

After Aaron Loup picked up four outs with the lead intact, José Quijada was charged with a run in the eighth. Quijada gave up a double on a 69 mph blooper that hit the right-field line, and that led to a run scoring on a ground ball against Jimmy Herget. Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect ninth before giving up a run in the 10th, but he ended up getting the victory.

SIERRA CALLED GAME WITH A WALK-OFF BUNT!!!#GoHalos pic.twitter.com/gYSGjbzFd2

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) September 7, 2022

Dead center from @MikeTrout. pic.twitter.com/GVtDoG6t8j

— MLB (@MLB) September 7, 2022

Back-to-back!! JO goes oppo @Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/lBTLV1NgJo

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 7, 2022

Ford turns on one @Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/2BLwddEUDC

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 7, 2022

Skip breaks down the Halos walkoff W@Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/tsT1UjSs8S

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 7, 2022