Rangers rally past Angels 7‑6 in ninth inning

ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — The Texas Rangers rallied for a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night at Globe Life Park, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wyatt Langford’s walk-off single.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Texas, which improved to 47-46, while the Angels fell to 37-57. The game lasted 3 hours, 4 minutes before an announced crowd of 29,646.

Texas took an early lead with two runs in the first inning. After Brandon Nimmo homered to left-center field, Josh Jung doubled and scored on a Jake Burger single. The Rangers added two more in the third when Ezequiel Duran crushed a two-run homer to center, scoring Nimmo, who had singled. Justin Foscue then made it 5-1 in the fourth with a solo home run to center.

Angels starter Ryan Zeferjahn struggled, allowing five earned runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out eight, but the Rangers continued to build pressure. Foscue added an RBI double in the sixth to push the lead to six.

The Angels, who had managed only one run on a Mike Trout groundout in the third, erupted for five runs in the seventh to tie the game. After Denzer Guzman reached on catcher interference and Logan O’Hoppe walked, Wade Meckler singled to center, scoring Guzman. Zach Neto walked to load the bases, and after Trout grounded into a forceout at home, Nolan Schanuel delivered a two-run single. Jorge Soler followed with an RBI single, and Jo Adell added a run-scoring single to make it 6-6.

The Rangers turned to reliever Jacob Latz to escape the seventh, and he struck out Vaughn Grissom and Guzman to strand two runners. Texas went quietly in the seventh and eighth against Angels relievers Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman.

In the top of the ninth, the Angels failed to capitalize. Schanuel doubled with one out, but Jorge Soler struck out and Grissom walked before Adell lined out to center.

In the bottom of the ninth, Alejandro Osuna led off with a single against Angels reliever Kirby Yates. Nicky Lopez sacrificed Osuna to second. Langford then lined a single to left, scoring Osuna, and the Rangers celebrated.

Nathan Eovaldi was the top star for Texas. He pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Over his previous two starts, Eovaldi had allowed three runs in five innings against Detroit and no runs over seven innings at Toronto.

Nolan Schanuel starred for the Angels, going 4 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. He was the only Angels batter with multiple hits.

Justin Foscue went 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and two RBIs for Texas. Ezequiel Duran also homered and drove in two. Brandon Nimmo homered and had two hits.

Texas reliever Cole Winn earned the win with one-third of an inning of scoreless relief. Latz struck out three in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Tyler Alexander also threw a third of an inning. For the Angels, Yates took the loss, falling to 0-4.

The Angels had won the series opener 13-1 on Wednesday, while Texas won the previous game 8-3 on Tuesday. The Angels have now lost four of their last five games. Texas has won two of its last three.

Los Angeles travels to Minnesota to face the Twins beginning Friday. Texas returns home to host the Houston Astros, also starting Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas 6, Los Angeles 2. Interstat’s ELO system gave Texas a 63.70 percent probability to win. Texas had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over/under line of 7.5.