Rangers 14, Angels 3: Michael Choice drilled a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs as visiting Texas continued its domination of Los Angeles in the rubber game of their weekend series.
Yu Darvish (2-1) bounced back from a rocky start last time out and overcame a shaky opening frame to go 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine while giving up three runs on seven hits. Prince Fielder had a pair of run-scoring doubles among his three hits while J.P. Arencibia added a solo blast and two RBIs as the Rangers improved to 18-5 in their last 23 meetings with the Angels.
Tyler Skaggs (2-1), who had pitched at least six innings in each of his first five starts, failed to get through the third as he was rocked for six runs on eight hits in 2 2/3 frames. Erick Aybar went 3-for-5 with a homer and Albert Pujols belted a solo shot for the Angels, who lost for only the second time in six games.
Fielder doubled in a run and Choice delivered an RBI single during a three-run first for Texas, but Darvish surrendered solo blasts by Aybar and Pujols in the bottom of the inning. Fielder hit another RBI double in the second and Arencibia swatted his first homer a frame later to extend the lead to 6-2.
Choice turned it into a laugher with a three-run blast off Kevin Jepsen in the fourth, and the Rangers piled it on when Alex Rios capped a five-run ninth with a three-run triple. Meanwhile, Darvish settled down and retired nine in a row - six via strikeout - as the Rangers beat the Angels for the seventh time in their last eight matchups.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Rangers CF Shin-Soo Choo went 2-for-3 and reached base five times to boost his batting average to .349 while 3B Adrian Beltre had three hits and scored three times. ... Pujols extended his hitting streak to five games with his 10th homer of the season and 502nd career - two behind Eddie Murray for 25th place on the all-time list. ... Fielder also pushed his hitting streak to five contests and ended a 10-game drought without an extra-base hit for the Rangers, who head to Colorado for games on Monday and Tuesday before hosting the Rockies on the next two nights. Los Angeles wraps up a nine-game homestand with a three-game set against the New York Yankees that begins Monday.
Texas | LA Angels | |
Yu Darvish | Player | Tyler Skaggs |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.1 | IP | 2.2 |
9 | Strikeouts | 2 |
7 | Hits | 8 |
4.26 | ERA | 20.25 |
Texas | LA Angels | |
Prince Fielder | Player | Erick Aybar |
3 | Hits | 3 |
2 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
5 | TB | 7 |
.750 | Avg | .600 |