Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers Pick & Prediction SEPTEMBER 7th 2024
Preview and Prediction
Every time the Texas Rangers suffer a loss, their chances of making it to the playoffs and defending their World Series title from last year diminish.
On Saturday evening, the Rangers will continue their unlikely attempt as they take on the Los Angeles Angels at Arlington, Texas. So far, the teams have split the first two games of their four-game series.
Despite winning eight of their last eleven games, Texas (68-74) fell to the Angels 5-1 on Friday. This loss puts them 8 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and also 8 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the AL's third and final wild-card spot with only 20 games left in the season.
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The Rangers struggled at the plate in Friday's game, only managing four hits against Angels starter Samuel Aldegheri, who earned his first major league victory by shutting down Texas with just one run and three hits over six innings.
"We just couldn't get it going offensively," said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy of his team's struggles against the Italian pitcher. "His fastball played up more than it looked like. We had a hard time with it."
After scoring three runs in the first inning of Thursday's 3-1 win over the Angels, the Rangers have only scored one run in the past 16 innings.
Their lone run on Friday came from a sacrifice fly by Adolis Garcia in the sixth inning. However, the Rangers were unable to capitalize on their five at-bats with runners in scoring position.
The Angels (59-82) have won four of their last six games, with Logan O'Hoppe hitting a three-run homer in Friday's game, his 19th of the season. This was O'Hoppe's second home run in three appearances this month, after batting just .099 (9-for-91 with two homers) in August.
Angels manager Ron Washington is hesitant to say that O'Hoppe is completely out of his slump, stating that "it takes more than one swing to find your rhythm." However, he also acknowledged that O'Hoppe has been swinging the bat better since his home run in the previous game and just needs to keep it up.
Before Friday's game, O'Hoppe credited an extended batting session with hitting coaches Johnny Washington and Tim Laker after Sunday's game for helping him improve his performance at the plate.
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"They pointed a lot of things out to me that I didn't realize had changed over time," O'Hoppe said. "There was a lot going on, so I don't want to get into the specifics of it, but I'm grateful for them and kind of keep leaning on them."
Los Angeles outfielder Taylor Ward extended his streak of reaching base to 16 games by going 1-for-4 with a walk in Friday's game.
However, the Angels did suffer a loss in the second inning when outfielder Jo Adell exited the game after striking out due to a left oblique injury. He is set to undergo further examination on Saturday.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson (10-12, 3.55 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels on Saturday. Anderson has lost four of his last six starts, with his most recent outing resulting in a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners where he gave up four runs and six hits, including two home runs, in four innings.
The 34-year-old dominated the Rangers in their previous meeting on May 17, allowing only one run and two hits in seven innings in a 9-3 victory. However, Jonah Heim did manage to hit a home run off Anderson during his time on the mound.
In his career, Anderson has a 2-0 record with a 3.09 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) against the Rangers. While Heim has had success against Anderson with an 8-for-15 record and two home runs, Nathaniel Lowe (2-for-17), Garcia (2-for-16), and Marcus Semien (1-for-11) have struggled against him.
For the Rangers, rookie right-hander Jack Leiter (0-2, 11.78 ERA) will make his sixth start of the season on Saturday. Leiter is coming off a loss against the New York Yankees where he allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings.
In just 18 1/3 innings this season, Leiter has given up 31 hits. The 24
Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers Recap SEP 7TH 2024
Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Ezequiel Duran homered to help the Texas Rangers to a 7-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels in the finale of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon.
Travis Jankowski had two hits and an RBI for the Rangers (70-74), who have won five of six.
Rangers starter Andrew Heaney (5-13) won his first start since July 21, allowing four runs (three earned) and three hits in six innings, striking out eight and walking one.
Kirby Yates worked the ninth for his 29th save.
Charles Leblanc hit a three-run homer for Los Angeles (59-84), which dropped three of four in the series.
Caden Dana (1-1) struggled in his second major league start for the Angels.
The 20-year-old right-hander did not record an out in the second inning and was tagged for five runs and seven hits. He struck out one and walked one.
Semien greeted Dana with a leadoff home run to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
After Josh Smith doubled inside the first base line, Dana got the next two batters out, but Lowe pulled a 2-1 slider over the fence in right for a two-run homer and a 3-0 lead.
Duran homered to lead off the second and make it 4-0.
Texas followed with back-to-back singles, followed by a check-swing RBI single by Semien that made it 5-0.
Heaney retired the first nine batters before walking Taylor Ward to start the fourth. Zach Neto doubled into the left field corner to put runners on second and third. Leblanc pulled a three-run homer down the left field line to cut the lead to 5-3.
Angels catcher Matt Thaiss reached on a two-base error in the seventh inning when left fielder Wyatt Langford was unable to catch his fly ball down the line. The ball went off his glove and landed in foul territory, but video review showed the ball hit Langford's glove in fair territory.
Heaney then departed and Thaiss moved to third on a fly ball before scoring on a groundout to cut it to 5-4.
The Rangers tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the eighth to extend the lead to 7-4.