Ariel Jurado pitched six innings of two-hit ball to earn his second victory since June, and Delino DeShields reached over the center field fence to make a spectacular homer-stealing catch in the Texas Rangers’ 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.
Nick Solak had an RBI single in the sixth and Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a two-run double in the eighth as the Rangers won the season series 10-9 over their fellow AL West also-rans. Texas took four of six from the Angels in two series over the past 10 days.
DeShields kept the game scoreless in the third when he reached up and over to take a homer away from Brian Goodwin . DeShields playfully bit down on the baseball before throwing it back to the infield.
Mike Trout got the day off after hitting his major league leading 43rd homer Tuesday night, and it probably thrilled the Rangers. Trout has hit 11 homers against Texas this season, tied for the most by an opponent in franchise history, while his 1.365 OPS is the third-highest by any Texas opponent in a season.
Without Trout, the Angels were shut out for the seventh time this season during their sixth loss in seven games.
After opener Emmanuel Clase barely escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, Jurado (7-10) retired 16 of his first 18 batters, giving up only two hits to Kole Calhoun. The performance was an impressive turnaround for Jurado, who had lost four consecutive starts and seven of his last nine, including three straight defeats over which he yielded 22 runs in 13 2-3 innings.
José Leclerc pitched the ninth for his ninth save, his first since Aug. 11.
Angels rookie Patrick Sandoval pitched five innings of one-hit ball in his fourth career start, racking up nine strikeouts in the best effort of his young career. The native of nearby Mission Viejo, California, struggled only with his control in his second start in his home ballpark, issuing three walks.
The Rangers finally broke through when Sandoval was pulled after just 84 pitches. Elvis Andrus drew a walk from former Rangers farmhand Miguel Del Pozo (1-1) and eventually scored on Solak’s single off Keynan Middleton, who was back on a major league mound for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2018.
Kiner-Falefa quickly added two more runs with his first hit since his latest recall from the minors.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: Trout has been dealing with minor pain in the bottom of his right foot, according to manager Brad Ausmus. While it isn’t serious, Ausmus decided to provide Trout with two straight days off, since the Halos don’t play Thursday.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Lance Lynn (14-9, 3.85 ERA) takes the mound in Arlington on Thursday for the opener of a four-game weekend series against the Seattle Mariners and Félix Hernández (1-4, 6.09 ERA).
Angels: After a day off at home, rookie José Suárez (2-5, 6.67 ERA) makes his 13th career start Friday to open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox and Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 6.64 ERA).
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