Rangers Lose To Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Albert Pujols used to seethe, it seemed, when an opposing pitcher intentionally walked Mike Trout with first base open to face him.
Trout is just a kid, after all, and Pujols already owns Hall of Fame numbers.
However, Pujols appears to have accepted what he previously considered a lack of respect. It happened again Thursday night, and a calm and collected Pujols responded with the game-winning hit in the Los Angeles Angels’ 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers.
“It doesn’t matter what they do to Trout, I still have to stay focused,” Pujols said. “I would do the same thing if I was the manager in that situation. He’s the best player in the game. He can beat you many ways. He can beat you with an infield hit; he’s probably one of the fastest guys in the league. In a situation like that, as a manager, you don’t want the best player in the game to beat you.”
At one time, Pujols was considered the best player in the game, winning three National League MVP awards. Now at age 36, Pujols is winding down his career. His, he still can be dangerous — he hit 40 homers just last season.
The Angels wasted a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the eighth
inning, failing to snap a 3-3 tie. However, they put together another rally in the ninth, starting with Johnny Giavotella’s one-out single off Rangers reliever Sam Dyson. Yunel Escobar then walked on four pitches.
“I flubbed up right there,” Dyson said. “I was trying to make a quality pitch, and it didn’t happen. It seemed like he was going to take the whole time and I told myself that, I just didn’t throw the ball in the right spot.
“Anywhere in the strike zone would have been fine. Potentially, I could have gotten a ground-ball double play, but I fell behind, he was taking, I kept throwing balls and … (stuff) happens.”
Dyson (0-1) was replaced by Andrew Faulkner, and pinch hitter Carlos Perez grounded out for the second out of the inning, moving Giavotella to third and Escobar to second.
After Trout was walked intentionally, Rangers manager Jeff Banister brought in Shawn Tolleson, who just one night earlier gave up five runs and five hits without recording an out against the Seattle Mariners.
After a first-pitch ball, Tolleson grooved a 93 mph fastball over the heart of the plate, and Pujols drilled it into the left-center-field gap to give the Angels their first win of the season.
After getting outscored 15-1 by the Chicago Cubs in the opening series, the Angels showed a little more spark Thursday. Los Angeles collected 11 hits, including two each from Escobar, Trout and Pujols. Escobar hit the club’s first home run of the season and added an RBI single.
“It was frustrating the first couple of games, but it’s a long season, we’ve still got 159 to go,” Pujols said. “It was a team win today, everybody did what they were supposed to do.”
Angels reliever Huston Street (1-0) earned the victory after throwing a perfect inning.
Los Angeles starter Hector Santiago gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks in six-plus innings, getting a no-decision. He was sharp in the middle innings, showing signs of the pitcher whose strong first half made him an All-Star last season.
After giving up a homer to Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos to start the third inning, Santiago retired 10 Rangers hitters in a row before a single by Shin-Soo Choo with one out in the sixth.
Santiago took the ball to start the seventh holding a 3-2 lead, having kept his pitch count down to a reasonable 87. However, consecutive singles by Desmond and Mitch Moreland to begin the inning spelled the end of the night for Santiago.
Elvis Andrus’ sacrifice fly later in the inning off reliever Fernando Salas tied the game at 3.
“Besides (the home run by Chirinos), I did everything I wanted to do,” Santiago said. “I mixed up all my pitches, I threw everything for first-pitch strikes, threw everything late in the count, got about five or six screwballs in there, so I did everything I wanted to do.”
Rangers starter Derek Holland gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in five innings, also getting a no-decision. He allowed only a solo homer to Escobar through four innings, but in the fifth, he walked two batters, and both came around to score later in the inning on two-out hits by Escobar and Craig Gentry.
“I made some pretty good pitches, but you’ve got to tip your hat to them,” Holland said. “They’re big league hitters for a reason. Escobar hit the ball to the right side, Gentry hit the ball down the line. It’s just one of those things that happen. I’m OK with the way things went, I just can’t be giving away free passes in there.”
