- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,271,563
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Samy Natera Jr. (52), left, and Los Angeles Angels catcher Tyler Heineman (31) celebrate after defeating the Texas Rangers during the 9th inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) (Ethan Swope/AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The current state of affairs is as follows: Texas Rangers leadoff hitter Joc Pederson reached base in all four of the plate appearances he took against the Los Angeles Angels Tuesday night, but to cross home plate just once, he needed to take matters into his own hands.
Nobody else was able to offer theirs.
The Rangers lost 3-2 against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night because the beleaguered heart of their lineup struggled to capitalize with runners on base in front of them. They had one hit in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position (it came from a pinch hitter whose contract was selected earlier that afternoon), left eight men on base (three of which were their leadoff hitter) and failed to put away a starting pitcher (one of the statistically worst in baseball) after he looked out of sorts immediately.
It cost the Rangers a chance to leapfrog the Houston Astros in the American League West, and for a league-high 20th time this season, left them with a .500 record.
"I think we were maybe overanxious," Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. "We had guys multiple times on the ropes, either via the walk or big hit, and then kind of rushed through the at-bat, the first couple of pitches, for whatever reason. Sometimes we just get off our game plan a little bit during the game. We get traffic and then just can't hit them in."
Pederson hit his seventh leadoff home run of the season against right-handed pitcher Ryan Johnson in the game's first plate appearance, and after right fielder Brandon Nimmo ended a seven-pitch at-bat with a single, and after third baseman Ezequiel Duran ended an 11-pitch at-bat with a walk, the Angels began to ready reinforcements in their bullpen.
Johnson, a Dallas native who came into the game with a 7.11 ERA, needed 31 pitches to slog through the first inning. He needed just 53 pitches for the next three-plus innings and allowed only one hit between the first and the fifth. The Rangers forced traffic in the top of the fifth inning when catcher Austin Wynns singled against Johnson and reached second base on a wild pitch, but after Pederson worked a walk off of left-handed relief pitcher Tayler Saucedo with one out, the duo of left fielder Wyatt Langford and shortstop Corey Seager was retired on a combined seven pitches. Langford, who is in a 6 for 53 drought that's spanned the last two weeks, popped out to second baseman Vaughn Grissom on two pitches. Seager, who now has a .192 batting average, struck out on five.
In the sixth inning, after consecutive singles from Nimmo and Duran against with nobody out, center fielder Evan Carter and first baseman Jake Burger both flew out on a combined seven pitches. It took pinch hitter Jarred Kelenic — who was added to the active roster just a shade over three hours before first pitch — to deliver a hit with runners on. He squeaked a single into left-center field against Murphy, scored Nimmo from second base and cut the deficit to one run.
The Rangers didn't record another hit for the remainder of the game.
They've been largely league-average in situations with runners in scoring position this season but have been prone to drastic slumps. On their last road trip, against the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros, they hit just 5 for 34 with runners in scoring position over a five-game winless stretch. The drought helped knock the Rangers from first place and pushed them into the trade deadline on a sour note.
"It goes in waves," Seager said of success or failure with runners in scoring position. "Obviously you'd like to capitalize more when they're out there. When you're going good, you do, and when you're not, that's what happens. So, unfortunately, that's kind of what happened to us tonight."
And, unfortunately, it wasted a strong start from left-handed pitcher Cody Bradford in his second game since he returned from elbow surgery. The 28-year-old pitched seven innings, allowed three runs and only needed to throw 75 pitches. He's only the third Rangers pitcher in the pitch tracking era, which began in 1988, to throw 75 or fewer pitches in a start of seven or more innings. The most recent occurance before Tuesday's game was left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney, once Bradford's teammate, who threw 74 pitches in seven innings vs. the Washington Nationals two seasons ago.
The Rangers lost that game, too, by one run.
Some things don't change.
This one needs to if the Rangers want to make something of their postseason proximity.
"We definitely just didn't capitalize," Seager said. "That's the story of the game."
Subscribe
Sign up for the Morning Roundup, a free newsletter delivering the latest North Texas news each morning.This article originally published at Rangers squander big opportunity in AL West race as offense sputters vs. Angels.
Continue reading...
