Rangers Give Up Eighth Grand Slam in 8-5 Loss to Angels
The grand slam strikes yet again.
Despite another first inning home run, the Texas Rangers fell to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday afternoon by a score of 8-5, losing three out of four games in Anaheim. Kyle Gibson escaped some danger early in his start, but the Angels stormed back from a 3-1 deficit with a seven-run fourth inning, capped off by a Jared Walsh grand slam.
"Once guys got on base, he didn’t see to get down the mound the same," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said of Gibson. "I don’t know if it was a mechanical thing. I know he was talking about the same mentality of attacking the strike zone, but once guys got on base, he couldn’t command the baseball."
Strong offensive performances from Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Solak, and a two-run home run by Derek Dietrich weren't enough to out-slug the Angels. Walsh's grand slam was the eighth grand slam the Rangers have allowed this season.
What's remarkable about it is they've only played 54 games. The Major League record for most grand slams given up in a season is 14 by the Detroit Tigers in 1996, but that was obviously in a typical 162-game season. The Rangers won't end up on the wrong side of history this season, but the pace at which they are allowing grand slams is unprecedented.
Is it bad luck? Or is there something tangible the Rangers can exorcise before 2021?
“I don't think it is bad luck," Woodward explained. "When you put yourself in jams to where you have the bases loaded and then you can't make a quality pitch, that's what happens. Maybe it's a little bit of bad luck who happens to be in the batter's box with the bases loaded ... but we put ourselves in those situations a lot of times because we didn't execute pitches.
"We're in a 3-1 count, we have nowhere to put him and we have Trout on deck," Woodward continued. "You’re not gonna pitch around him to get to Trout, obviously. He's gonna do the same thing. You gotta get ahead. That's one thing Gibby did really well his last start, but not this start.”
The Rangers wrap up their final road trip of the season with a two-game series in Arizona before coming home to finish the season with a four-game series with Houston at Globe Life Field this weekend.
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