The Los Angeles Angels have guaranteed themselves at least a split of their four-game series with the Texas Rangers entering Game 3 Wednesday night in Arlington, Texas.
The Angels, though, are looking to do more damage after rallying from multi-run deficits to claim the first two games.
“We feel like we’re just as good as those guys,” Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe told Bally Sports West after Los Angeles’ 7-3 victory on Tuesday. “We’ve got all the talent in the world, and we’ve got to go out and show it. We’re playing good baseball right now.
“Once we get going, it’s going to be hard to stop us. We’ve got to keep going, keep trucking.”
The Angels, who have won three in a row and eight of their past nine, will give the ball to left-hander Reid Detmers (1-5, 4.79 ERA) on Wednesday.
Much like the team, Detmers is trending in the right direction. He earned his first win of the season in his latest start, when he held the Chicago Cubs to one run on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings on Thursday.
Detmers has faced the Rangers once this season, taking a loss on May 6. He gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over four-plus innings. In his career vs. Texas, Detmers is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA over six starts.
He will look for support from an improving Angels offense. Renfroe broke out of a 3-for-27 slump with a go-ahead homer on Tuesday. Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-2, his third straight multi-hit game, with three walks and two runs, while Zach Neto homered for the third time in his last three games.
The Rangers, meanwhile, will look to end a slide that has seen them lose five of their past six games.
Left-hander Andrew Heaney (4-4, 4.14 ERA) will make his 13th start of the season. He is coming off a loss at Tampa Bay on Friday, when he allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts over five innings. He made four consecutive quality starts before struggling in his past two outings.
Heaney pitched for the Angels from 2015-21, going 30-33 with a 4.51 ERA in 102 starts. He has faced his former team just once, in a relief appearance in 2021 as a member of the New York Yankees. He allowed two runs over two innings.
Assuming Heaney doesn’t go the distance, the Rangers aren’t sure what they will get out of their bullpen. Texas’ relief corps has the 24th-highest ERA in the majors (4.57), a number that rose after the bullpen gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy isn’t panicking about the relievers yet, though, saying they have been “pretty good overall.”
“The bullpen has to tighten things up. It’s going to be important from this point on we continue to do the job down there,” Bochy said. “Probably going to play closer games.”
The Rangers also are seeking more timely hits. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position Tuesday and stranded 11 runners. On the plus side, Corey Seager and Nathaniel Lowe each had three hits and a homer in the loss.
–Field Level Media
