Peters' Two Homers, Hearn's Solid Start Lifts Rangers Over Angels

The Texas Rangers snapped their three-game losing streak behind two strong performances by DJ Peters and Taylor Hearn.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Sep 5, 2021 8:01 PM EDT

Two players who could be intriguing pieces in 2022 had impactful performances for the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

The Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Angels by a score of 7-3, snapping a three-game losing streak. DJ Peters led the way offensively with his first career four-hit game, which included the second two-homer of his young Major League career.

Peters got the Rangers on the board in the second inning with a solo homer off Angels starter Janson Junk, who was making his Major League debut. In the following inning, the Rangers pushed across another run on a throwing error by Luis Rengifo. Then with two runners on base, Peters put a jolt into another pitch from Junk, parking his second blast of the game over the wall, giving the Rangers a 5-0 lead.

It was a bit of a homecoming for Peters, who grew up in the Los Angeles area. He had friends and family at the ballpark to witness arguably the best game of his big league career.

The Rangers tacked on two more runs later in the game. Jonah Heim was walked with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, then Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in a run with an RBI single in the sixth inning, as part of a three-hit performance of his own.

The Rangers still struggled with runners in scoring position, going 3-for-13 on the afternoon. But with Peters driving in four runs on two hits, the Rangers didn't need the clutch hits in this one.

On the mound, Taylor Hearn continued his impressive form, keeping the Angels lineup at bay for the majority of the game. Only Jo Addell had success against Hearn, who hit two home runs of his own, accounting for all three Halo runs.

Hearn turned in his second consecutive quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts in seven innings of work. For Hearn, the vast improvement in walking opposing batters is one of the more positive trends for the 27-year-old left-hander. Over his last four starts, he's only walked two hitters in 23 2/3 innings.

Josh Sborz and Joe Barlow both flirted with danger in the final two innings out of the Rangers bullpen, but both managed to walk away unscathed. With two runners on base, Barlow struck out Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to end the game.

What's Next

The Rangers (48-88) and Angels (68-69) conclude their four-game series on Monday night in Anaheim. A.J. Alexy (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will square off with Angels right-hander Jaime Barria (2-2, 5.40 ERA).