The Texas Rangers scored six runs but the Anaheim Angels scored nine runs.
Last Friday we were wondering if the Rangers would make use of a ninth-inning rally from their previous game to push them forward on the cusp of returning to .500 baseball only for them to spend their Friday evening getting one-hit on their way to a series loss in Houston last weekend.
After coming back to win with a ninth inning rally on Wednesday in Colorado, the Rangers got their first look at the Anaheim Angels and instead of any presence of momentum, Texas combined two of the more dubious threads that have plagued them this season into one crappy first inning.
A dash of first inning woes with a pinch of Jacob deGrom dingerball issues put the Rangers in an immediate 4-0 hole. The first inning issues have been well documented but the home run bug for deGrom is something that was worrying early but became a crisis after allowing four dongs in the second loss in the series against Houston.
Tonight, deGrom allowed two more homers, including an inexcusable three-run bomb from someone named Wade Meckler, the first of his big league career.
Overall, deGrom lasted just three innings and allowed six runs on six hits while tying a season-high three walks. This came against a club that had won just five times all month and had scored as many as the four runs that they scored in the first inning alone in just six of their 19 games in May. As you might expect, their nine runs tonight is their best this month.
Texas tried to chip away at the Angels’ early lead and even got to within a run at 6-5 but they eventual ran out of innings but not before old, broken relievers allowed three more Angels runs.
So once again instead of building on a comeback victory the Rangers opened a series against the American League’s worst team with a loss to a division rival.
Player of the Game: Brandon Nimmo has been beat up a little over the last few weeks but after a day off yesterday he had a nice game tonight.
Nimmo hit a fourth inning solo home run and a seventh inning double that, at the time, seemed like it might bring in what would have been the tying run if not for the fact that Josh Jung is incredibly slow and couldn’t score from first base on a two-out extra base hit.
In addition to the success at the plate, Nimmo also made a nifty catch at the wall in right field that prevented extra bases.
Up Next: More Rangers and Angels with a pitcher to be named for Texas opposite LHP Reid Detmers for Anaheim.
The Saturday evening first pitch from the Big A is scheduled for 6:20 pm CDT and will be aired on NBCSN / Peacock.