Friday night proved to be a good homecoming for Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington.
Managing for the first time in Texas since a mostly successful eight-year stint that included consecutive trips to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, Washington guided Los Angeles to a 9-3 victory over the current World Series champions.
Washington hopes his team can notch a series win Saturday night when the squads meet in the middle contest of a three-game set.
“I’m always looking forward to going back to Texas but those three days are going to be tough days,” he said before the series started. “Not only am I going back to a fan base that cared about the things we did when I was there, but I got all my family from New Orleans coming and that’s a lot of tickets.”
The recipients of all those tickets Washington doled out saw his team mash out 14 hits, including four by Willie Calhoun, and get seven dominant innings from starter Tyler Anderson. Zach Neto and Taylor Ward belted homers.
The Angels will try to make it two straight behind left-hander Patrick Sandoval (2-6, 5.00 ERA). He’s coming off a 4-2 loss Sunday at home against the Kansas City Royals, who nicked him for 11 hits and four runs over six innings. Sandoval walked none and struck out three.
He’ll make his ninth career appearance, eight of them starts, against Texas. He’s 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 35 innings, allowing just 29 hits and striking out 44. But he’s also walked 22.
Sandoval presents a challenge the Rangers have struggled with this year — left-handed pitching. Anderson tied them in knots on Friday night, mowing down 15 straight batters at one point and allowing only two hits over a 96-pitch effort.
“I think we’ll hit left-handers but at this point, we haven’t done a whole lot against them,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “The numbers aren’t good. We’ve been having tough times against left-handers.”
The Rangers also have had their issues when it comes to making plays in the field. They committed three errors on Friday, including a throwing error on first baseman Nathaniel Lowe that helped Los Angeles score a third-inning run.
“That’s unlike us to make three errors, that’s all I can tell you,” Bochy said. “It’s been a little sloppy lately and it’s something we have to clean up.”
Texas turns to Jose Urena (1-3, 3.62) in an attempt to square the series. The sinker-balling right-hander last threw on Sunday in Colorado, turning in a quality start but dropping a 3-1 decision to the Rockies.
Urena allowed six hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings with a walk and three strikeouts. He’s been pounded in two career starts against Los Angeles, going 1-1 with an 8.68 ERA and allowing 19 baserunners in 9 1/3 innings, including four homers.
One bit of good news for the Rangers is that outfielder Evan Carter could return to the lineup Saturday night. Carter (lower back) sat out five straight games before pinch-hitting Friday in the ninth inning.
–Field Level Media
