Rangers Lose At Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout’s latest exploit enabled the Los Angeles Angels to frustrate the plans of one of the American League West’s contenders.
Trout’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning capped a four-run rally that gave the Angels a 9-5 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night at Angel Stadium.
Ji-Man Choi added his first major league home run as the Angels earned their eighth win in 10 games and their fourth in succession, matching their season high.
“It’s fun right now,” Trout said. “We’re putting everything together. We’re relaxed at the plate, and we’re not trying to do too much.”
Los Angeles has scored 95 runs and compiled a .351 average with runners in scoring position this month. Both statistics lead the majors for July.
Right-hander J.C. Ramirez (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief with one strikeout and a hit batsman for his first American League win. Ramirez was 1-3 with the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season.
The Rangers’ Adrian Beltre hit his 426th career home run, tying him with Miguel Cabrera and Hall of Famer Billy Williams for 48th place all time. Rougned Odor and Mitch Moreland also hit home runs for Texas, which has lost 12 of 16 and missed a chance to extend its lead over the second-place Houston Astros.
Texas (55-39) still holds a 4 1/2-game edge on Houston, 13 1/2 games on the Angels, who are tied for fourth place.
Two batters who walked against the Rangers’ pitchers scored, as did two who were hit by pitches.
“We’ve got to play cleaner,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “We talked about that before. When you give up the freebees, they come back to haunt you. We’ve got to find a way to eliminate those, the walks, the hit batters, the errors.”
The Angels, who trailed 4-0 after two innings, broke a 5-5 tie with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning against reliever Keone Kela (1-1).
After being hit by a pitch, Jett Bandy took third base on Andrelton Simmons’ double down the right field line. One out later, Kole Calhoun hit a sharp ground ball that second baseman Odor speared while playing in. Odor threw to home plate, but catcher Bobby Wilson juggled the ball as Bandy slid around Wilson.
Trout followed by pounding Kela’s 96 mph fastball into the Angels’ bullpen in left field for a three-run home run, his 19th of the season.
“We keep fighting,” Trout said. “We can’t hang our heads. We’ve got to keep fighting to the end.”
Los Angeles rallied in the sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead. The hosts combined two hits, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and an error into two runs.
Right-hander A.J. Griffin yielded a single to Calhoun and hit Trout with no outs before being replaced by Tony Barnette, whose wild pitch moved Calhoun and Trout into scoring position.
After Barnette struck out Albert Pujols, Daniel Nava hit a ground ball that Odor bobbled. Calhoun came home on the play while Trout went to third base. Johnny Giavotella then singled to center field to score Trout.
The Rangers tied the score in the top of the seventh when Nomar Mazara and Wilson hit successive doubles off Fernando Salas with one out. Ramirez then relieved Salas, induced a popout from Ian Desmond and struck out Odor to end the threat.
Texas used back-to-back home runs from Odor and Beltre to build a 3-0 lead in the first inning against right-hander Nick Tropeano. One out after Jurickson Profar walked, Odor lined Tropeano’s 91 mph fastball into the right field bleachers for his team-leading 17th home run, a two-run drive.
Beltre followed by hitting another 91 mph fastball over the fence in left-center field for his 13th homer this year.
Moreland extended the Rangers’ lead to 4-0 by hitting his 12th home run of the season in the second inning. Moreland propelled Tropeano’s 92 mph fastball about one-third of the way up the right field bleachers.
The Angels narrowed their deficit in the fourth by turning three walks, a single and a sacrifice fly into two runs against Griffin, who retired the first nine batters he faced. Pujols walked with the bases loaded to force Yunel Escobar home, and Nava hit the sacrifice fly that scored Calhoun.
In the fifth, Choi drew Los Angeles within 4-3 with his first major league home run. Choi hit Griffin’s first pitch, an 87 mph fastball, into the right field bleachers for a solo drive.
Tropeano lasted only two innings and 43 pitches before leaving with a sore elbow. He will undergo an MRI exam Tuesday. Jhoulys Chacin relieved Tropeano, who replaced him in the rotation. Tropeano walked one, hit one and struck out two while yielding four runs on three hits, all of them home runs.
