Rangers Fall in Extras to Angels

June 13, 2023

Angels 9, Rangers 6

ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 12) — The Texas Rangers dropped their series opener to the Los Angeles Angels in extra innings, 9–6, on Monday. A two-homer night for two-way star Shohei Ohtani helped nail down the win for the Halos on this muggy night in Arlington. The Rangers look to bounce back in the second game of this four-game series on Tuesday. Right-hander Jaime Barria (2–2, 1.85 ERA) will get the start for the Angels. The Rangers, meanwhile, have yet to announce their starting pitcher for Tuesday’s game.

Early Offense for Rangers

The Rangers got on the board in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the second. With Josh Jung and Jonah Heim both on base, Ezequiel Duran blasted a three-run homer to left-center. But the Angels responded in the top of the third. Taylor Ward scored on a single to left by Mike Trout. The Rangers got that run back in the bottom of the third. A single to center by Josh Jung drove in Corey Seager. Moments later, Mitch Garver plated Jung with a double to short.

Extra-Innings Affair

The Angels scored a flurry of runs in the top of the fifth. Zach Neto raced home on a sacrifice fly to left by Shohei Ohtani. They soon made it 5–3 on a flyout by Anthony Rendon, and a throwing error by Adolis Garcia in right. This allowed Ward to score. Later in the inning, Trout crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Rangers starter Dane Dunning.

The Angels tied it 5–5 in the top of the seventh. Shohei Ohtani deposited one over the wall in deep center for his 19th home run of the season. It was a brand new ballgame at this point. A winner couldn’t be decided in nine innings, so that meant free baseball. The score remained knotted at five until the top of the twelfth. Ohtani’s second home run of the evening made it 7–5 in favor of the Angels. It went to right field, and tipped the scales quickly for the Angels. They were able to add to more thanks to another two-run homer later in the inning. It came off the bat of Chad Wallach, who drove in Mike Trout in the process.

Pitching Notes

Rangers starter Dane Dunning took a no-decision on Monday despite exiting after the fifth with the Rangers leading, 5–4. Dunning’s final line on the evening was 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R-ER, 5 BB, 3 K. He issued a career high-tying five walks, as he threw 57 of 90 (63.3%) pitches for strikes. Dunning was removed from the ledger after Ohtani connected for the game-tying solo home run off Grant Anderson in the seventh inning. He has allowed 3+ runs in each of his last three outings to raise his ERA from 1.67 to a season-high 2.91. He has logged at least five innings in each of his seven starts this season. Cole Ragans took the loss for the Rangers after pitching 1 2/3 innings.

He allowed three runs, one of which was earned, on two hits. Both of those hits were the extra-inning home runs. Ragans’ record in 2023 now stands at 2–3, with an ERA of 5.92. Grant Anderson and Josh Sborz also gave up runs as well. Angels starter Tyler Anderson also took a no-decision on Monday. His final line was 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R-ER. He allowed nine baserunners in those six innings. In his last three starts, he is 1–1 with an ERA of 9.00 and 1.733 WHIP. Opponents are hitting .311 against him. Sam Bachman got the win for the Angels after throwing two innings. He allowed one hit, one walk, and one hit. He is now 1–0 on the year with an ERA of 0.90. Aaron Loup gave up the Rangers’ sixth run in the 12th inning. There was no save recorded on Monday.

Postgame Comments

Meeting with the media after the game, an even-keeled Bruce Bochy acknowledged that Monday was a tough loss. He said, “It was a hard-fought game on both sides. It started with Dane (Dunning). He wasn’t quite on top of his game. It was a battle for him to get through five innings. He got hurt with (Shohei) Ohtani’s home run, but you look at that game, and lot of good things happened as well. The job that our bullpen did was great. On offense, we got some guys on base in extras, and all you can do there is try to hit the ball hard. We did that, but unfortunately this one got away from us.”