A mostly miserable July for the Rangers concluded with a 5-2 win over the Angels on Sunday, giving Texas the series win, 3-1, and slowing the team’s descent toward the bottom of the American League West standings.
Texas ended July with a record of 10-17 for the month, just 4-6 on their West Coast road trip, which concluded with the win over Los Angeles on July 31.
Dane Dunning got the start for Texas, and though he would not earn a decision in the contest, he tossed six innings in which he allowed two runs on seven hits and three walks while mowing down four Angels batters and lowering his ERA on the year to 4.30.
In the first inning, both the Rangers and Angels scored a run. Nathanial Lowe drove in Marcus Semien to open the contest. Los Angeles notched another run in the bottom of the second inning, and the score would remain 2-1 until the fifth inning.
While Dunning kept the Angels at bay, Reid Detmers followed suit and kept the Rangers at one run through six as he allowed three hits and fanned 12 in his outing.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Texas manager Chris Woodward told MLB.com. “[Detmers] has been throwing the ball well against us, and we had a couple of big at-bats. I thought [Dunning] pitched well, obviously. He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win.”
In the top of the fifth inning, Charlie Culberson doubled to left and advanced to third on a throwing error. The next batter to the plate, Elier Hernandez, hit a sac-fly to right, plating Culberson and knotting the contest at 2-2.
Brock Burke pitched two scoreless innings for Texas in Dunning relief. The 25-year-old lefty, sporting an ERA of 1.17 on the season in 53.2 innings pitched, allowed a hit and walk, no runs, and earned the win, pushing his record to 5-2 on the year.
The Rangers propelled Burke to the win after posting a three-spot on the board in the top of the ninth. Leody Taveras led off the inning with a single, and Jonah Heim walked, giving Texas runners at first and second. Adolis Garcia then walked, juicing the sacks full of Rangers.
The Angels swapped pitcher Raisel Iglesias for Jose Quijada, with Ezequiel Duran next at the plate for Texas. Duran took the first pitch for a ball and then belted a sharp flyball to right field, clearing the bases for Rangers on a three-run double.
Duran, who had struck out in his previous three at-bats in the game, said he didn’t allow his previous results to affect his last bat of the game.’
“I didn’t really kind of think about those past three strikeouts,” he told MLB.com. “You’ve got to go up there with the mentality that you’re going to come through for your team. I just did what they asked me to do.”
Jonathan Hernández, who had pitched just four innings this season before Sunday, tossed a perfect ninth inning to collect the first save of his MLB career (41 games), giving Texas the 5-3 win and moving their record on the season to 46-55, third place behind Houston and Seattle in the AL West.
The Rangers will start August with 14 of the next 17 games at home at Globe Life Field in Arlington. First up for Texas is the AL East’s Baltimore Orioles, who enter the contest with a 51-51 record.
Probable starting pitchers in Monday’s contest are Spenser Watkins (3-1) for the O’s and Jon Gray (7-5, 3.62) for Texas, with a scheduled start time of 7:05 p.m. CDT.
