Jonah Heim, a backup catcher batting in the No. 9 spot, had three hits and a career-high five RBIs to propel the Texas Rangers to a 10-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night in Arlington, Texas.
One of those hits was a grand slam off Angels starter Shohei Ohtani, who gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings. Heim also had an RBI single off Ohtani, who went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and two strikeouts as the Angels’ leadoff hitter.
Heim wasn’t the only Texas hitter who had his way with Angels pitching. Corey Seager had two hits, including his first home run as a Ranger, and three RBIs. Nathaniel Lowe added two hits, and every batter in the starting lineup had at least one hit for Texas, which totaled 13 hits in all.
Ohtani (0-2) allowed six hits and two walks while striking out five in a 70-pitch outing. His ERA through two starts is 7.56.
The Angels took a lead in the first inning against Rangers starter Dane Dunning with two runs with a 472-foot solo homer from Mike Trout and an RBI single by Brandon Marsh.
The lead only lasted until Heim’s second-inning grand slam opened the floodgates for Texas. In the fourth, Heim had an RBI single off Ohtani, who didn’t make it out of the inning.
Angels lefty Brian Moran entered the game to face the left-handed-hitting Seager, who foiled the strategy with a two-run homer. Lowe added an RBI double off Moran in the inning to increase Texas’ lead to 8-2.
The Rangers added two more runs in the fifth against Jaime Barria, one on an RBI single by Seager and one on an error by Angels shortstop Andrew Velazquez.
Dunning gave up two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven in 3 2/3 innings. Rangers reliever John King (1-0) got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Max Stassi hit a two-run homer in the eighth for Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media