Rangers sweep Angels for first series win

ARLINGTON—The Texas Rangers got their first series win this weekend with a three-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels. Texas entered the series losers in five of their last six games, included a three-game sweep by the Oakland Athletics.

GAME ONE

The Rangers found themselves trailing early in Friday night’s game as Angels superstar Mike Trout hit a two-run home run in the top of the first to give Los Angeles a quick 2-0 lead.

Texas was able to get one run back in the bottom of the second inning when catcher Robinson Chirinos hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Willie Calhoun, bringing the Rangers within one.

The Angels added another run in the top of the fourth to make things 3-1, but the Rangers offense came alive in the bottom half of the inning. Texas was able to score three runs in the fourth, all of which were unearned, to take a 4-3 lead. Chirinos came in to score the go-ahead run when Nick Solak was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Starting pitcher Jordan Lyles got the win, his first of the season. Lyles allowed three runs, all of which were earned in 5.1 innings of work. The win makes Lyles 1-1 on the season with a 5.56 ERA. The Rangers bullpen had a strong showing, finishing the final 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out seven.

Rafael Montero picked up the save in Friday’s win, the first of his career. In his one inning of work, Montero didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out two.

GAME TWO

Saturday’s game saw a pitching duel between the Rangers and Angels, as Texas got its second consecutive win by a score of 2-0. Both runs came on a two-run shot from Joey Gallo, his fourth of the season, which scored Todd Frazier in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Despite throwing five shutout innings, starting pitcher Kolby Allard ended up with a no decision. The win went to 37-year-old Edinson Volquez, his first of the season. Volquez was followed up by Jesse Chavez who struck out a pair of batters in just one inning of work.

Montero came in to pick up his second consecutive save and was able to do so on just 12 pitches.

The Rangers had just four hits as a team in the 2-0 win, including the Gallo home run and a double from Frazier. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa also hit a single, improving his average to .342 for the season.

GAME THREE

After already clinching their first series win for the season on Saturday, the Rangers took the lead in the bottom of the third in Sunday’s series finale and never looked back. Texas scored first thanks to a double from Kiner-Falefa that scored Rob Refsnyder.

Second baseman Rougned Odor added to the lead with an RBI-single to score Solak. Another pair of singles from Elvis Andrus and Shin-Soo Choo brought in three more runs, and gave the Rangers a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

Starter Lance Lynn allowed a two-run bomb to Tommy La Stella in the top of the fifth; it was the only two runs Lynn would allow in the game. The Rangers went on to win the game 7-3, giving Lynn his second win of the season. Lynn is 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA in his great start to the year.

Texas was 3-9 with runners in scoring position in the series finale, with Choo, Andrus and Odor all going 1-2 in such situations. Andrus and Solak had the only multi-hit games for the Rangers, they each went 2-4 with a single and double.

The series sweep gave the Rangers a 6-8 record to start the season and has them in second place in the American League West division. The Houston Astros trail Texas by just half a game. The Rangers have a three-game set at home against the Seattle Mariners before traveling to Colorado for a three-game set starting Friday.