Rangers Clip Angels' Wings in Series Opener

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August 14, 2023

Rangers 12, Angels 0

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Aug 14) — The Texas Rangers trounced the Los Angeles Angels, 12–0, on Monday night in front of a crowd of 27,743 at Globe Life Field. A three-run blast late in the game by Adolis Garcia was just one of many key moments that propelled the Rangers to the win in the series opener. The first-place Rangers hold a 3.5 game lead in the AL West over the Houston Astros, who lost to the Miami Marlins earlier in the evening, 5–1. The middle game of this three-game set is on Tuesday at 7:05 pm Central. Right-hander Lucas Giolito (7–8, 4.37 ERA) will get the start for the Angels. The Rangers will counter with lefty Jordan Montgomery (7–10, 3.38 ERA).

Five RBI Night for Semien

The Rangers got their offense rolling in the bottom of the second. Robbie Grossman scored on a single to center by Marcus Semien. Grossman reached on a walk earlier in the inning. In the bottom of the third, outfielder J.P Martinez — who made his major league debut against the San Francisco Giants on August 11 — hit a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Garcia to score. Two batters latter, Mitch Garver scored on a bases-loaded walk to Marcus Semien. Later in the inning, the Rangers extended their lead to 5–0 on a wild pitch to Corey Seager by Angels reliever Griffin Canning that brought home Ezequiel Duran.

The score remained 5–0 until the bottom of the sixth. A double to left by Garver plated Seager to give the Rangers a comfortable 6–0 lead. They broke it open to 9–0 in the bottom of the seventh. With Grossman and Martinez on base with a double and a single, respectively, Semien launched one over the wall in center. It was his 19th homer of the year. It was also his fifth RBI of the evening. Three batters later, Garcia belted a two-run home run to center with Nathaniel Lowe on base to make it 11–0. It was the 30th long ball for Garcia this season and also marks the second 30-homer season of his young career.

The Rangers got one more in the bottom of the eighth. Martinez raced home on a double to left by Leody Taveras to put the finishing touches on this statement game.

One-Hitter

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Max Scherzer recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. He earned his third win in as many starts with the Rangers. His line on the evening was 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K, 100 pitches/72 strikes. His overall record is now 12–4 with an ERA of 3.67.

Scherzer matched his longest scoreless outing of the season. It also marked his 112th career double-digit strikeout game. This ranks as third-most all-time behind Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (212). Scherzer has gone 3–0 with a 1.80 ERA, 26 strikeouts, and five walks in three starts for the Rangers since being acquired from the New York Mets on August 30. He and reliever Martin Perez combined to allow one hit in the game. That hit was a single by Mike Moustakas in the second.

Sandoval’s Struggles

Angels starter Patrick Sandoval took his ninth loss of the season in his 21st start on Monday, dropping his record to 6–9 with an ERA of 4.09. His line was 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R-4 ER, 6 BB, 6 K, 83 pitches/43 strikes. It was his shortest outing of the season, and the five runs (four earned) allowed are the most that he has given up since June 29 against the Chicago White Sox. Sandoval came into Monday’s game with a 2–1 record and a 1.86 ERA, along with 27 strikeouts, in his previous five starts.

His struggles got to the point where the Angels were forced to utilize four of their five allotted mound visits in the first three innings. The Rangers’ additional seven runs were given up by Canning, Aaron Loup, and third baseman Eduardo Escobar. It was the 10th time this season that an opposing team has brought in a position player to pitch against the Rangers.

Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was asked what he saw from Max Scherzer in this one. He said, “He had it all going tonight. All four of his pitches were working exactly how they should have been, as was his command. He was definitely on top of his game. Everyone was amazed that he only gave up one hit. That’s the interesting thing about this game. You watch a guy like that play against you, and then he comes here and brings everything that he used to throw at you to your side of the field, and we’re just so glad to have him. He’s so good and so well prepared. I appreciate the elite athletes that do their job, and that was a fun game to watch.”

Scherzer also field questions after his start. He said, “I came out and had some good innings to start. Around the third is when I locked in completely. I was working with Garv (Mitch Garver). He and I had a good flow, and I was able to locate my pitches very well. When I can go out there and execute and have some quick innings, then that puts more pressure on the opposing pitcher as well as their offense. With this particular offense, you’re completely aware that it can explode at any time, and we were definitely ready for that tonight.”