This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Any time the Texas Rangers lose a game, the odds decrease that they will qualify for the playoffs to defend last year’s World Series crown.
The Rangers will continue their long-shot bid on Saturday evening when they face the Los Angeles Angels at Arlington, Texas. The teams have split the first two contests of their four-game series.
Texas (68-74) has won eight of its past 11 games but dropped a 5-1 decision to the Angels on Friday.
That loss left the Rangers 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 berth with just 20 games remaining.
Texas had just four hits in Friday’s setback. Los Angeles starter Samuel Aldegheri shut down the Rangers on one run and three hits over six innings for his first major league victory.
“We just couldn’t get it going offensively,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of his club’s struggles against the Italian hurler. “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 victory over the Angels, Texas has just one run over the past 16 frames.
The lone run Friday scored on a sacrifice fly by Adolis Garcia in the sixth inning. The Rangers were hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position.
The Angels (59-82) have won four of their past six games. Logan O’Hoppe delivered a three-run homer, his 19th of the season, in Friday’s win.
It was O’Hoppe’s second homer in three appearances this month. He is 3-for-11 in September after batting a meager .099 (9-for-91 with two homers) in August.
Angels manager Ron Washington wasn’t ready to say O’Hoppe is fully out of the deep slump.
“It takes more than one swing to find your rhythm,” Washington said. “But after he hit the home run at home, he has been swinging the bat better, and he just has to keep it up.”
Prior to Friday’s game, O’Hoppe said an extended batting session after Sunday’s game with hitting coaches Johnny Washington and Tim Laker was a huge help.
“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.”
Taylor Ward of Los Angeles went 1-for-4 with a walk to stretch his streak of reaching base to 16 games.
Angels outfielder Jo Adell (left oblique) exited in the second inning after striking out. He is slated to undergo further examination on Saturday.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson (10-12, 3.55 ERA) will start for the Angels on Saturday.
Anderson lost four of six starts before receiving a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners last Saturday in his team’s 5-4 victory. He gave up four runs and six hits — including two homers — over four innings.
Anderson, 34, dominated the Rangers on May 17 when he gave up one run and two hits over seven innings in a 9-3 victory. Jonah Heim homered for the lone Texas run during Anderson’s time on the mound.
Anderson is 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA in eight career appearances (seven starts) against the Rangers. Heim is 8-for-15 with two homers off Anderson, but Nathaniel Lowe (2-for-17), Garcia (2-for-16) and Marcus Semien (1-for-11) have struggled against him.
Rookie right-hander Jack Leiter (0-2, 11.78 ERA) will make his sixth start of the season for Texas on Saturday. Leiter lost to the New York Yankees on Monday when he allowed five runs and seven hits over five innings in an 8-4 defeat.
Leiter has allowed 31 hits in just 18 1/3 major league innings this season. The 24-year-old has never faced the Angels.
–Field Level Media
