Rangers Power Past Angels
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — It’s not like a Texas Rangers team to play small ball. But the Rangers had a streak going that did not quite fit their reputation.
Going into Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers had not hit a home run in six straight games, the second longest streak in the American League this season.
But the streak ended at 249 consecutive plate appearances when Shin-Soo Choo led off the sixth inning with a home run, sparking a rally and lifting the Rangers to a 5-2 win at Angel Stadium.
Choo was not the only Ranger to homer in the sixth. Alex Rios’ two-out, two-run homer gave the Rangers the lead for good at 3-2.
“I didn’t know (about the homerless streak), but a lot of people talk about it, said it’s been a long time,” Choo said. “That’s baseball.”
Choo, who left the game in the seventh inning with a sore left ankle, had three hits and Rios added two.
Rangers right-hander Colby Lewis (2-1) picked up the win after giving up
two runs, seven hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. The Rangers used five relievers, including Joakim Soria, who pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
“I was able to throw the fastball where I needed to,” Lewis said. “I was able to command a lot of pitches, my changeup was really good tonight. Overall, it was a pretty decent game.”
As much as games in early May can be important, this one was for the Rangers. They had just been swept by Oakland and had lost four in a row and five of six overall. A loss would have dropped them into third place in the American League West, behind the A’s and Angels.
“It’s always big (to get a win) when you lose, especially when you lose back-to-back-to-back games,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “We’re trying to get back on the winning side. We had to battle tonight, we put some runs on the board and our pitching staff did a good job of holding those guys down because they can swing the bat.”
Early on, the Angels looked poised to extend the Rangers’ losing streak. Angels left-hander Hector Santiago managed to work his way out of a few jams early, holding the Rangers scoreless through five innings.
Left fielder J.B. Shuck drove in one run with a bunt single and second baseman Howie Kendrick had an RBI single, and the Angels took a 2-0 lead into the sixth.
But the lead vanished quickly, thanks to Choo and Rios, and the Rangers added two runs in the seventh, knocking Santiago out of the game.
Santiago (0-5) not only is winless this season, but the Angels have lost all six of his starts.
“I think he pitched better than what his linescore shows, but he couldn’t finish off the sixth, and the couple mistakes he made ended up going out of the park,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “It seemed like as the game went on, he didn’t get away with as many pitches that weren’t quite there. But he pitched a strong game and hopefully it’s a step forward.”
Shuck had a nice game for the Angels with two hits, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. First baseman Albert Pujols also had two hits for Los Angeles.
The Angels took the early lead in the second inning thanks to a perfectly placed bunt by Shuck. The Angels had runners on second and third with two outs when Shuck dropped a bunt down the third-base line.
Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, realizing he had no play at first, let the ball roll, hoping it would go foul. But it did not, hugging the line until it rolled inside the third-base bag.
Angels third baseman David Freese scored from third on the play to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.
The Angels increased their lead to 2-0 in the fourth after Shuck singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Kendrick’s single. The Angels, though, could not put together a big inning against Lewis.
“He made some good pitches in some tight spots,” Scioscia said of Lewis. “It looked like he had both sides of the plate working, and had a little cut to his fastball that he used. He knows what he’s doing out there, he pitched around some trouble and got some big outs.”
