Rangers Take Middle Game from Angels

August 15, 2023

Rangers 7, Angels 3

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Aug 15) — The Texas Rangers won the middle game of their series against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, 7–3, in front of a crowd of 26,166 at Globe Life Field. A two-homer night for Corey Seager was one of the key factors in this game, as the Rangers have now secured the series win against the Angels, therefore maintaining their 3.5 game lead over the Houston Astros in the AL West. The Astros won their game against the Miami Marlins, 6–5, at LoanDepot Park earlier in the evening. The Rangers will try to nail down their third consecutive sweep at Globe Life Field Wednesday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central. Left-hander Reid Detmers (2–9, 5.27 ERA) will start for the Angels. The Rangers will counter with righty Jon Gray (8–5, 3.65 ERA).

The Corey Seager Show

Both starting pitchers traded zeroes for the first two and a half innings. The Rangers broke the seal in the bottom of the third. A triple to right by Marcus Semien plated Travis Jankowski. On deck was Seager. He proceeded to send one over the wall in left-center that just barely missed the Angels’ bullpen. It was Seager’s 21st homer of the season. The Rangers made it 4–0 in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly to center by Jankowski that allowed J.P. Martinez to score. Martinez singled earlier in the inning and later advanced to third on another single by Ezequiel Duran.

The Angels got one back in the top of the fifth. Eduardo Escobar scored the Angels’ first run of the series on a single to center by Luis Rengifo. The Rangers stretched it to 5–1 in the bottom of the seventh on Seager’s second dinger of the evening. It marks the 12th multi-homer game of Seager’s career, and the ninth multi-homer game by a Ranger this season. The last one was on August 9 by Adolis Garcia against the Marlins at Globe Life Field. The Rangers extended their lead to 7–1 in the bottom of the eighth in thanks, once again, to Seager. He plated Duran and Jonah Heim with a single to center, notching his fifth RBI of the night. The Angels crept closer in the top of the ninth on a two-run homer to center by Randal Grichuk.

Pitching Notes

Lefty Jordan Montgomery earned the win after posting his third quality start in as many outings with the Rangers. He is now 8–10 on the year with an ERA of 3.30. His final line was 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R (earned), 0 BB, 9 SO, 91 pitches/63 strikes. Montgomery is 2-1, with a 2.50 ERA since the Rangers acquired him on July 30 from the St. Louis Cardinals. He has also gone 5–3 with a 2.47 ERA over his last 11 starts to cut his season ERA from 4.55 to 3.30. According to Stathead, he is the eighth left-hander in club history to log six-plus innings with six or fewer hits allowed, one or less allowed, no walk and nine-plus strikeouts in a game. This was last done by Andrew Heaney on August 1 against the Chicago White Sox.

The Angels’ other two runs were given up by righty Chris Stratton. No save was recorded. Angels starter Lucas Giolito allowed four earned runs in six innings Tuesday, dropping to 1–3, with an ERA of 8.14 in his four starts with the Angels since being acquired in a trade with the White Sox. Giolito has eight walks against 14 strikeouts with the Halos. His season-high 110 pitches were most since June 22, 2021 against the Pittsburgh Pirates (111 pitches). The Rangers’ three additional runs were given up by Aaron Loup and Dominic Leone.

Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was asked how he felt knowing that his team has now won five series in a row (nine overall) at Globe Life Field. He said, “They’re playing really well. It starts with the pitching. Jordan (Montgomery) did great for us tonight. He has nasty stuff. It was another quality start for him. Monty mixed up his pitches really well, and used both sides of the plate wonderfully as well. All of our guys have been getting us quality starts, and you really can’t ask for much better. Offensively, the night that Corey (Seager) had was huge. He and Marcus (Semien) have been really fun to watch over the past month.”

Jordan Montgomery also reflected on his performance on Tuesday. He said, “I went into this start knowing how good their lineup is, and that just fueled my arm up. Today I had to throw a lot of sinkers glove side, and I usually throw them down and away, so that was a bit of an adjustment. I felt that I established the inside half of the plate with all of my pitches, and I felt really good out there tonight.”