ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep. 5) \u2014 The Texas Rangers<\/a> got the upper hand in their series against the Los Angeles Angels<\/a> on Thursday, beating them in their series opener, 3\u20131. All three of their runs came on one swing of the bat from Adolis Garcia<\/a><\/strong> in front of a crowd of 22,926. The Rangers will go for their fourth consecutive victory on Friday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Left-hander Samuel Aldegheri<\/a><\/strong> (0\u20131, 3.60 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels, while righty Gerson Garabito<\/a><\/strong> (0\u20131, 2.55 ERA) will get the ball for the Rangers.<\/p>\n The Rangers jumped out to a 3\u20130 lead in the bottom of the first. Marcus Semien<\/a><\/strong> led off with a single to left off Angels righty Jack Kochanowicz<\/a><\/strong>. After Wyatt Langford<\/a><\/strong> lined to short, Josh Smith<\/a> <\/strong>advanced Semien to third with a sharp single to right. On deck was Garcia, who blasted a three-run shot to right-center, his 22nd of the season.<\/p>\n The Angels scored their lone run in the top of the third against Rangers left-hander Cody Bradford<\/a><\/strong>. Michael Stefanic<\/a><\/strong> led off the frame by grounding to short. Bradford walked Taylor Ward<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0moments later. Up next was Zach Neto<\/a><\/strong>, who singled to right, moving Ward over to third. Ward crossed the plate on a 6\u20134 force play grounded into by Nolan Schanuel<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Cody Bradford may want to pick up the bill the next time he sits down to dinner with Garcia. Had it not been for his homer in the first, Bradford very well could have been saddled with his third loss of the season. The Rangers’ bullpen also chipped in on this win as well. They put together three scoreless innings after Bradford exited after the sixth.<\/p>\n One of the relievers they called upon was David Robertson<\/a><\/strong>, who struck out the side in the eighth. That gives him 1,142 career relief strikeouts to tie Francisco Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong> for 11th place on the all-time list.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n The only thing that went wrong for the Rangers on Thursday was the force play that Schanuel grounded into that scored Ward in the third.<\/p>\n Bradford picked up his fifth win after tossing six innings of one-run ball. His line on the evening was 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 90 pitches\/58 strikes. He has logged five consecutive quality starts beginning on August 15. That marks the longest such streak by a Rangers starter in \u201924 and longest since Nathan Eovaldi<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s seven-game QS streak from April 18 to May 23 in 2023.<\/p>\n Bradford has made 10 starts in 2024, with the Rangers going 7\u20133 in those games. He is now 5-2 with an ERA of 1.60, nine walks, and 54 strikeouts. Bradford joins Colby Lewis<\/a><\/strong> and Cliff Lee<\/a><\/strong> as the only pitchers in Rangers franchise history to record 54 or more strikeouts and nine or fewer walks over their first 10 starts of a campaign, according to Stathead.<\/p>\n Much like Robertson, closer Kirby Yates<\/strong><\/a> struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 27th save of the year.<\/p>\n Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz suffered the loss despite also twirling his fifth straight quality start. His final line was 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R-ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 93 pitches\/65 strikes, and he now owns a record of 2\u20134 with an ERA of 4.89. He became the first Angels pitcher to author five\u00a0 consecutive quality starts or more since Shohei Ohtani<\/a><\/strong> in 2021. Ohtani had six straight Quality Starts from July 6 to August 18 of that year.<\/p>\n Kochanowicz produced Thursday’s quality start despite failing to record a strikeout, his second time to do so this season, making him the first Halos hurler to pull the trick multiple times in a single campaign since Ram\u00f3n Ortiz<\/a><\/strong> in 2003. He held the Rangers scoreless over his final five frames after surrendering the three-run home run to Garc\u00eda in the bottom of the first.\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy<\/strong> discussed Bradford’s performance. \u201cYou go back to last year, he was so good then, and so I think he just continued to build off that,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cBut with the time that he missed, what’s really impressive to me, is how he’s come back, and he’s stronger than ever, and he’s pitching deeper in a game than he was last year. He’s so tough mentally. Even when things don’t go right out there, he just has that great ability to put it behind him and focus.\u201d<\/p>\n Bradford also elaborated on his start on Thursday. \u201cTo be honest, today didn\u2019t feel like a great rhythm,\u201d Bradford said. \u201cI know the numbers say one thing and the feeling might say another. I don\u2019t like walking people. Today, I had two unnecessary walks, one of which led to the only run scored tonight. That bites at me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI noticed in the second inning maybe, I looked up at the gun \u2014 and I hate when I do that \u2014 and noticed my velocity was 88 mph,\u201d Bradford explained. \u201cUsually my best bullets are around 90-91 mph this time of the year. I think that\u2019s actually what caused me to get away from the fastball and not trust it. Because I let a number on an electronic scoreboard dictate how I pitched to a line. That\u2019s unacceptable. Kudos to Jonah (Heim) and (pitching coach) Mike (Maddux) for helping me trust my stuff and get back to that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nGarcia Goes Yard<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
Another Quality Start for Bradford<\/h4>\n
Kochanowicz’ Evening<\/h4>\n
Bochy’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Bradford’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>