Game gets out of hand for Angels in loss to Rangers
ANAHEIM » The Angels let a close one get away Friday night.
Trailing by a run going into the ninth inning, the Angels allowed five runs with two outs en route to a 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers before an announced crowd of 29,906 at Angel Stadium.
Left-hander Aaron Loup recorded two quick outs in the ninth inning, but was chased from the mound on consecutive singles by Josh Smith and former Angel Kole Calhoun.
Elvis Peguero needed one out to preserve the Angels’ 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Instead he allowed both inherited runs to score — plus another three — to turn the game into a 7-1 rout.
The Angels (42-58) collected only four hits against Texas left-hander Martin Perez and two relievers, ultimately suffering their second straight loss to begin the homestand. Luis Rengifo went 2 for 4 at the plate, but also committed one of the Angels’ two fielding errors.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval rebounded from two dreadful outings to throw five shutout innings, and quite nearly a sixth.
The game was tied 0-0 when Marcus Semien, facing Sandoval for the third time, belted a line drive into the left field corner. The ball ricocheted around the corner, twice slipping under the glove of left fielder Jo Adell. The second miscue prompted Semien to round third base, commanding a perfect relay from Adell to Luis Rengifo to catcher Kurt Suzuki. Rengifo’s throw bounced short of home plate, and Semien was safe on the double and two-base error.
For Sandoval, it had to be a case of déjà vu. Exactly two weeks earlier, his start against the Dodgers ended prematurely as a direct result of a misplay by Adell. Adell was playing right field July 15 when he lost track of a fly ball, allowing it to fall for a triple. Instead of being the final out of the fifth inning, the Dodgers scored twice to take a 4-0 lead and knock Sandoval out of the game.
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, right, reacts to a strike call during the first inning Friday against the Rangers.
RANGERS 7, ANGELS 2
Up next: Rangers at Angels, today 6:07p.m. BSW, FS1
This time, Sandoval was allowed to continue. He walked Jonah Heim with two outs then allowed a double down the leftfield line by Adolis Garcia. Adell fielded this one cleanly, but Heim trucked around the bases ahead of David Fletcher’s relay throw to make it 2-0.
Sandoval (3-7) allowed one hit and one walk over the first five innings, then allowed three hits and a walk in the sixth. Right-hander Andrew Wantz was summoned from the bullpen to record the final out of the inning.
Although he straggled to the finish line, Sandoval’s totals (5 2/3 innings, four hits, two earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts) represented a return to form. He had allowed a total of nine runs across his last two starts — both losses — on either side of the All-Star break.
Perez (9-2) scattered three hits over seven innings, allowing a run when Rengifo singled in Brandon Marsh, who had walked.
Rengifo was on first in the bottom of the ninth when a sharp ground ball glanced off first baseman Nate Lowe’s glove and tumbled into right field. Jared Walsh reached second on the two-base error, and Rengifo scored all the way from first to provide the final score.