Adolis Garcia drove in two runs and Josh H. Smith launched a home run and had two RBIs on Wednesday to help power the Texas Rangers to a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels in Arlington, Texas.
Leody Taveras provided some insurance with a two-run single in the eighth inning, and the Rangers (64-84) bounced back after losing the series opener on Tuesday to the Angels (65-84).
Texas right-hander Dane Dunning (4-8) allowed two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.
Angels left-hander Tucker Davidson (2-7) was charged with three runs on five hits in five innings.
Taylor Ward belted a two-run home run in the first inning, giving the Angels the early lead. Shohei Ohtani kept the inning alive with a two-out single, and Ward’s homer was his 19th.
Texas chipped back with a run in the first. Corey Seager singled and moved to third on Nathaniel Lowe’s single. Garcia’s sacrifice fly made it, 2-1.
In the second inning, the Rangers tied it at 2 on Smith’s fielder’s choice grounder. Taveras started things off with a single, and after advancing to third on a wild pitch, Smith grounded to shortstop. The Angels had the infield in, and Livan Soto’s throw home was low, and skipped past catcher, Matt Thaiss. Taveras scored on a head-first slide. Smith advanced to second on the error.
The Rangers claimed the lead for good, 3-2, in the third inning on doubles by Nathaniel Lowe and Garcia.
The Angels had a chance to get something started in the seventh inning. Ohtani led off with an infield single. But a potential threat was quickly erased as Ward’s sharp comeback liner was snared by reliever Brock Burke, who doubled Ohtani off first for a double play.
Texas made it 4-2 on Smith’s second MLB homer, which came with two outs in the seventh inning off Jaime Barria.
The Angels tacked on three runs in the eighth inning on Taveras’ two-run single with the bases loaded. A third run scored on an error.
–Field Level Media