Postgame Notes: Angels 5, Rangers 2

TEXAS falls to a season-low 21 G under .500 at 63-84…has lost 3 straight and 4 of last 5 G after winning 3 of previous 4 G…drops to 30-42 at home in 2022, assured of finishing with a below .500 home record for 2nd straight year (went 36-45 in 2021)…will need to win the final 2 G of this series to avoid 10th straight winless series…has gone 8-6 vs. LAA this season.

TRIPLE PLAY: The Rangers turned the 8th triple play in club history in the 6th inning tonight on a 5-4-3 ground ball hit by Max Stassi and turned by Josh Jung/Marcus Semien/Nathaniel Lowe…marked the 2nd triple play turned by the Rangers in 2022 (also 4/20 at SEA), the first time in Texas history for the team to turn multiple triple plays in the same season…there have been 6 triple plays turned in MLB this season and the Rangers have been involved in 3 of them, 2 by them (tonight + 4/20 at SEA) and one against them (8/22 at MIN)…tonight was the 1st triple play turned against the Angels since the Rangers turned one on 8/16/18 at Globe Life Park, which was also the last triple play turned in Arlington (by Rangers or opponent) prior to tonight.

MARCUS SEMIEN reached base in all 4 plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a double and 2 walks…tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI double in the 5th inning, his 30th double of the year...most doubles for a Ranger since 2019 (31-Shin-Soo Choo, 30-Rougned Odor)…this is his 4th career season with 30+ 2B, with his career high set in 2019 w/ OAK (43)…Semien during season-best 8-G hit streak: .455/.500/.848/1.348 (15-33), raising his batting average to a season-high .253.

ADOLIS GARCÍA gunned down Matt Duffy at home plate in the 4th inning for his 10th outfield assist of the season and 1st since 8/14 vs. SEA...he has more than 3 times as many OF assists as the next-closest Rangers (3-Kole Calhoun/Eli White)…has 26 OF assists since the start of 2021, tied with Hunter Renfroe for the most in MLB over that span.

COLE RAGANS exited with 2 outs and the bases empty in the 5th inning, trailing 2-1…allowed only runs on Matt Duffy’s 2-R HR in the 2nd…did not issue a walk for the 1st time in his 7 career starts and had 5 strikeouts for a 2nd straight start (also 9/13 vs. OAK) to match his career high…has completed 5.0 IP in just 2 of his first 7 career starts.

LOS ANGELES-AL won tonight’s series opener over Texas, and have won 4 of last 5 games following a 4-game losing skid…won tonight despite failing to record a walk, just 5th such victory this season (last 8/29 at NYY)…pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts tonight, and have punched out 10+ batters in 2 straight and 3 of last 4 G (41 total K’s)…has gone 6-8 vs. TEX this season, winning 5 of 9 G played here at Globe Life Field…tonight’s win marked Angels’ 500th win all-time over the Rangers/Senators franchise (500-475), the team’s most wins against any individual MLB franhise.

PATRICK SANDOVAL held Texas to 2 runs (both earned) and 3 hits over 5.0 innings, striking out 7 while issuing season high-tying 4 walks (5x, last 8/12 vs. MIN)…exited after completing the 5th with a 5-2 lead after the Angels rallied for 3 runs in the top of the 6th, earning his 6th win of the season…Sandoval over his last 9 starts (beg. 7/29): 3-3, 2.03 ERA (12 ER/53.1 IP), 50 SO/18 BB…has logged 5.0+ innings and allowed 2-or-fewer earned runs in each outing over that span, the 2nd-longest streak of its kind in franchise history behind only a 10-start streak by Nolan Ryan from 9/12/72-4/22/73.

MATT DUFFY finished with 3 hits tonight, including a go-ahead 2-run home run in the 2nd inning…has homered twice in his last 8 G (also 9/12 at CLE) after going homerless in his first 57 G to open this season…Duffy has 3 G with 3+ hits in 2022, two of which have come against the Rangers at Globe Life Field (also 3 H on 4/17 at TEX).

MIKE FORD recoded career high-tying 3 hits (3x, last 9/21/19 vs. TOR w/ NYY), all of which were singles…was his 2nd multi-hit outing in 3 G and 7th since making his LAA debut on 8/25…Ford has hits in 3 of his 4 career appearances at Globe Life Field, going 6-for-10 (all singles).

TAYLOR WARD went 2-for-4, including an RBI double in the 6th inning, to extend his current 6-game hitting streak…Ward is batting .339 (20-59) over 17 G in September to raise his season batting average from .262 to .272...has hits in 7 of 10 G vs. TEX this season at .294 (10-34).

MISCELLANEOUS: Bubba Thompson's 3.61-second home-to-first time on his bunt single in the 5th inning was the 6th-fastest home-to-first time in MLB this season (Statcast)…Shohei Ohtani has hits in 6 straight and 16 of his last 20 G (beg. 8/28), batting .312 (24-77) over the longer span.

MINOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS: Double-A Frisco was a 7-3 winner over San Antonio tonight in Game 1 of their best-of-3 divisional playoff series...the RoughRiders scored 7 unanswered runs after facing a 3-0 deficit through 4 innings…following an off day tomorrow, Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Thursday at San Antonio.