The Rangers bats never warmed up on Tuesday night in Anaheim, with Texas collecting just five hits in a 5-2 loss as the regular season winds down.
Marcus Semien walked twice and drove in a run on his 30th double of the season. Aside from his 2-for-2 day at the plate and a 5-4-3 triple play executed by Josh Jung, Semien, and Nathanial Lowe, Texas was left without much good to write home about.
The loss dropped the Rangers to 63-84 this season, eliminating them from playoff contention.
Rangers rookie Cole Ragans got his seventh start of the season in the game, but for the fifth time this year, he earned no decision. He still searches for his first MLB win. The 24-year-old lefty tossed 4.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits with five punchouts.
Ragans left the game in the top of the fifth after retiring the first two batters he faced and reached a pitch count of 84 (52 for strikes.)
Dennis Santana spelled Ragans out of the bullpen, brought in to face Mike Trout. He struck out the perennial all-star with just four pitches, the final a 96.9 mph fastball Trout couldn’t catch up with.
Santana was not as successful in the top of the sixth as he allowed three straight hits without getting an out and loaded the bases.
John King was brought in to clean up Santana’s mess but was unable to do so, giving up back-to-back singles, putting the Angels up 5-2. The Texas triple-play followed the two Los Angeles singles and ended the Angels’ assault.
Santana was charged with the loss, dropping him to 3-8 on the season after allowing three earned runs on three hits in his .1 innings pitched.
King settled in after the triple play and didn’t allow another baserunner in his 2.1 innings pitched.
Jesus Tinoco finished the contest on the mound for Texas and was effective, tossing 1.2 innings, allowing a lone hit, and striking out three.
Patrick Sandoval ran his record to 6-9 on the season and got redemption for the 7-2 pounding by the Rangers in late July.
“We tinkered with some things right before my start in Detroit, and it’s really helped these last two months,” Sandoval told MLB.com.
Texas will look for their own redemption as they host the Angels again on Wednesday, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT.
Probable pitchers in the contest are Dane Dunning (3-8, 4.49) for Texas and Tucker Davidson (2-6, 6.96) for the Angels. The Rangers have never faced Davidson, who is an Amarillo native.