April 13, 2017

The Angels had a rough afternoon against the Rangers at the Big A on Thursday, losing 8-3 to the Rangers for the 2nd time in less than 24 hours.

This time the Rangers got 7 shutout innings from ace Yu Darvis, who allowed just 5 hits and struck out 10 batters to pick up his first win of the season.  Carlos Gomez and Nomar Mazara hit home runs in the victory for Texas.

The Angels only offense came on a 3-run homer from Danny Espinosa in the 9th inning.  It was his 3rd home run of the season.

Ricky Nolasco had a tough day for the Halos.  He went 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits.  He struck out 7, but allowed the two home runs.  In three starts, Nolasco is now 0-2 with an ERA of 5.40.  As a team, the Angels starting pitchers are sporting an E.R.A. of 6.00.

Despite a tough last two games, the Halos are still 6-4, and tied atop the AL West with the Houston Astros.

The Rangers didn’t waste much time in this one, getting on the board with a leadoff homer from Gomez on the 2nd pitch of the game.  An RBI double from Robinson Chirinos,  a run-scoring single from Jurickson Profan, and then the two-run shot from Mazara made it 5-0 after 3 innings.

Chirinos drove in two more runs with an RBI double in the 7th inning, and then he would score later in the inning on a single from Shin-Soo Choo.  Chirinos finished the game with two hits, two runs, and three RBI.

Daniel Wright pitched the final four innings for the Angels.  He gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, and after the game was optioned back to Triple-A Salt Lake.  The Angels also learned that Garrett Richards will not return from the disabled list when he is eligible to be removed from it this weekend.  There is no timetable scheduled for his return, nor for him to resume throwing.

The Halos will hit the road for the next 7 games, beginning with a 3-game set starting tomorrow night in Kansas City.  The Angels will start J.C. Ramirez, while the Royals will counter with Danny Duff.