Rangers Lose To Angels
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — David Freese was extremely happy about the two-run home run he hit in the seventh inning Friday night that lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
Not only did it turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead, but it helped make a winner of Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards, who had to battle back from season-ending knee surgery last season.
“Rounding the bases I was fired up, thinking about him, trying to get that ‘W’ for him,” Freese said.
So the first thought in Freese’s mind when the ball cleared the wall was Garrett Richards?
“Maybe the second,” Freese admitted. “My first thought was, ‘Hell yeah.’
“As hitters, we think about the pitchers. They’re out there busting their tails and we’re not putting up the runs. To me, it’s not just about getting the ‘W’, it’s about backing your guys up that are on the mound. And tonight we did it.”
The win for Richards was his first since Aug. 15 of last year, also against the Rangers. In his subsequent start, he ruptured the patellar tendon in his left knee while covering first base in a game at Fenway Park.
He lost his first start of this season against the Astros, but Friday Richards looked
more like the Richards who went 13-4 with a 2.61 ERA last year before the injury.
“I worked very hard this offseason to get back to where I am now, and for anybody who thought it wasn’t going to be that easy, hard work pays off,” Richards said. “I’m pleased with my recovery and pleased with where I am right now.
“Tonight it really felt like I was back to doing the things I was doing last year.”
While it had been eight months since Richards’ last major league win, it had been even longer for Rangers starter Wandy Rodriguez. Called up from Triple-A Round Rock to make the start, Rodriguez last won a major league game nearly two years ago — May 26, 2013, while pitching for the Pirates.
Rodriguez pitched well but was finished after five innings, giving up one run and five hits.
“I thought Wandy competed very well,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “He moved the fastball around, pitched through traffic for most of the night. A veteran outing by a guy who hadn’t been on a major league mound in nine months or so (actually 11 months). … He kept some pretty good hitters off-balance.”
The Rangers pushed across two runs against Richards in the third inning and that was enough to keep them ahead through six innings.
In the seventh, Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun led off with a single. Center fielder Mike Trout hit into a force play, but Trout stole second. After first baseman Albert Pujols lined out, Freese stepped to the plate and worked the count full against Rangers reliever Keone Kela before hitting a fastball over the fence in left-center.
“I felt the young Kela had some battling moments,” Banister said. “He threw some good pitches to Freese, (but) one thing about that at-bat is when you give an accomplished hitter, a guy that’s had some significant at-bats at the major league level, a pitch out over the plate … Freese put a good swing on it and hit it to the deepest part of the ballpark.”
For Freese, the home run was his fourth of the season, most on the club. He hit just 10 homers last year, and didn’t hit No. 4 until July 5.
Angels reliever Joe Smith pitched a scoreless eighth, and Huston Street did the same in the ninth for his sixth save.
Street, though, had some anxious moments before finishing it off. He retired the first two hitters of the inning before third baseman Adrian Beltre walked. Delia DeShields pinch ran for Beltre and stole second. And when catcher Chris Iannetta’s throw went into center field for an error, DeShields took third.
After a walk to designated hitter Prince Fielder, shortstop Elvis Andrus fouled off several two-strike pitches before hitting a chopper to the left of Freese at third. Freese made a nice pick up and threw out Andrus to end the game.
Angels designated hitter C.J. Cron had three hits, while Fielder had two of the Rangers’ three hits.
