Angels collapse in ugly eighth
Rangers score seven runs in the inning off bullpen, poor defense
ARLINGTON, TEXAS » A mix of bad luck and bad pitching cost Ryan Tepera and the Angels.
The Angels took a one-run lead into the eighth inning but gave up seven runs in a nightmarish sequence, losing 10-5 to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.
The meltdown spoiled a night in which Mike Trout was poised to be the hero with three hits, including a tie-breaking solo homer in the seventh.
Tepera took the mound in the eighth to try to get the one-run lead to closer Raisel Iglesias, but he failed to retire any of the five batters he faced.
Left-handed hitting Corey Seager hit a blooper just inside the right field line. Third baseman Anthony Rendon, who was playing near second base as part of a defensive shift, could not get there to make the play, and Seager wound up at second.
The Angels were then shifted
the other way on righthanded hitting Adolis Garcia, who hit a soft grounder to the right side. Second baseman Luis Rengifo was able to stop it, but instead of simply holding the ball he made an illadvised throw to first. As first baseman Matt Duffy stretched to try to catch the ball, which was too late for the out, Garcia plowed over him and the ball rolled away, allowing Seager to score.
Duffy was down on the field for a few minutes before leaving the game. There was no immediate word on the severity or nature of his injury.
Tepera then walked the next two hitters, including a four-pitch walk to Kole Calhoun to load the bases. Tepera gave up a single to Nathaniel Lowe, pushing home the go-ahead run, and then his night was over.
Cesar Valdez then entered the tight spot for his Angels debut, and the 37-year-old right-hander allowed two more runs to score on a bloop single into right.
An out later, Eli White lined a single through the drawn-in infield and left fielder Brandon Marsh let the ball get under his glove. As the ball rolled to
the wall, White circled the bases.
It was the ugly finish to a game that began with Reid Detmers struggling in his first outing since pitching a no-hitter.
He lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on a Seager solo homer and a Calhoun two-run homer. Ironically, the homers were hit by the only two lefties in the lineup. Lefties had been 1 for 26 against Detmers coming into the game.
In his no-hitter, Detmers threw more changeups than he had previously, but this time he reverted to barely using the pitch. He threw it just six times in his 61 pitches. Detmers also threw 61% fastballs, which is the highest percentage of any of his 12 career starts.
One of those fastballs was a belt-high pitch that Seager hit over the fence. Detmers left a slider up to Calhoun, whose homer in the fourth tied the score 3-3.
The Angels scored three runs by hitting Rangers lefty Taylor Hearn hard in the third inning.
Taylor Ward blasted his ninth homer, setting a new career high. Trout then drew a walk and he scored on Rendon’s homer.
The homers were two of the eight balls the Angels hit against Hearn with exit velocities of at least 100 mph. They put only 15 balls in play against him.