This story was originally published by Dead Spin
While the Texas Rangers are wrapping up their seventh losing season in eight years, they can take solace in small victories such as grinding out a comeback victory in the ninth inning and seeing a young player get the key hit.
Following one of their more dramatic wins of a challenging season, the Rangers will attempt to finish a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels when the American League West foes conclude the season Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
The Rangers (77-84) never got going this season, and although they are a respectable 21-16 in their past 37 games, this improved stretch is following a span of 16 losses in 21 games to essentially knock the defending World Series champions out of postseason contention.
One thing Texas has done well of late is beat the Angels. Texas has won eight of 12 meetings and 12 of the past 18. The Rangers secured a road-series win over the Angels on Saturday by storming back for a 9-8 victory with four runs in the ninth inning.
Nathaniel Lowe homered and hit an RBI double before capping an 11-pitch plate appearance with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth. He scored the tie-breaking run on a throwing error by Los Angeles rookie right fielder Gustavo Campero on a two-run, game-tying single by pinch hitter Jonathan Ornelas.
“They’ve done a great job of continuing to play,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “We got down pretty good there, and they just kept fighting. It was a very entertaining game. It was sloppy on both sides at times.”
The Rangers lost Adolis Garcia to a sore knee, and the right fielder will miss Sunday’s game. Garcia hit .224 with 25 homers and 85 RBIs in 154 games.
The Angels (63-98) are skidding to the finish of the worst season in team history. After finishing with 73 wins in Shohei Ohtani’s final season with the team, Los Angeles has lost five games in a row, is 1-8 in its past nine contests, and is 12-34 since taking two of three from the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium last month.
Long before his costly throwing error, Campero hit a three-run homer for his first career home run in the third. Niko Kavadas also homered and Logan O’Hoppe had four hits on Saturday, but the Angels had just three of their 13 hits after the fourth inning.
“They’re feeling the heat,” manager Ron Washington said. “They’re feeling the pressure. You can see it. There’s really no reason to. I can say that, because I’m not between the lines. But those guys between the lines, you can see it.”
Nathan Eovaldi (11-8, 3.96 ERA) will start for Texas on Sunday, though it could be an abbreviated outing. The right-hander allowed four runs in seven innings during a no-decision at Oakland on Tuesday — the Rangers lost 5-4 — and he is 0-3 with a 7.56 ERA over his past three outings after winning three straight starts from Aug. 23-Sept. 4.
Eovaldi is 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 13 career appearances (11 starts) against the Angels.
Rookie Jack Kochanowicz (2-5, 4.01 ERA), who is 2-3 with a 2.63 ERA in his past eight starts, will start for the Angels. The right-hander produced his second career scoreless outing when he allowed three hits in seven innings and got 14 outs on the ground Tuesday in a no-decision, a 3-2 Angels loss to the host Chicago White Sox.
Kochanowicz’s only career start against Texas was Sept. 5, when he allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings of a 3-1 loss.
–Field Level Media
