Angels drop Rangers in series opener

The Rangers have not had much good fortune against the Angels this season, and after an off day on Thursday the Rangers opened up a weekend set with their division rivals, falling 5-2. Garrett Richards once again was masterful against Texas, allowing just two runs and five hits in six innings of work as he picked up his 13th win. In two starts against Texas this season he has allowed just nine hits in 14.2 innings and just three runs; and hasn’t lost a decision against Texas since 2013. Martin Perez went six for Texas in the loss, allowing three runs and five hits, falling to 2-4 on the season. The Rangers are now 4-9 against the Angels this season, with two more in this series and a four game set in Arlington October 1-4 to close the regular season.

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C.J. Cron was the catalyst for the Angels, driving in the first three runs of the game. His two run single in the third inning scored Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout to get the Angels on the board. In the fifth he tripled to deep center to score Albert Pujols and make it 3-0.

In the top of the sixth Rougned Odor hit a sac fly to score Prince Fielder and in the seventh Shin-Soo Choo hit a triple into left center to score Joey Gallo and make it 3-2. But Cron put the game away in the bottom of the seventh with a two run double to score Trout and Calhoun once again and make it 5-2, which is how it would end.

Choo had three of the Rangers seven hits in the game, and Gallo started in left field. His average when playing in left is just .143, with his overall average at .204 and .255 when playing at third base.

Tomorrow night Derek Holland will take the mound against Jered Weaver with first pitch at 8:05 PM CT. Weaver has never finished with a losing record in his career, but is just 6-10 this season. His ERA is currently at 4.91, and only once in his career so far has his ERA been over four–2008. But he has been good against Texas in recent years–he’s 6-2 against Texas in the past three years. On the other hand, Holland has not had much success against the Angels over that time frame–he has an ERA of 6.91 and a 2-3 record. With the Rangers now three games behind the Astros and 2.5 games ahead of the Angels, this series certainly has implications for both teams. Should be a great series.