Three key takeaways from Texas Rangers’ 4-3 loss Wednesday to the Los Angeles Angels
News from the Operating Table in Arlington on Wednesday:
Texas Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman underwent surgery to repair his left knee, an injury that occurred April 12 at Tampa Bay and opened a roster spot for Adolis Garcia. Guzman had damage to articular and meniscus cartilage damage, and will be down six weeks before beginning rehab. He’s expected to miss the rest of the season.
Catcher Sam Huff, the Rangers’ No. 2 prospect, had surgery that removed a loose body from his right knee. Unlike Guzman, Huff will begin rehabbing immediately and will miss eight weeks.
Also from Rangers World Headquarters:
They traded minor-league right-hander Leon Hunter to Seattle for a player to be named or cash considerations. Hunter was the Rangers’ 35th-round pick in the 2019 draft from North Carolina AT&T.
That news was delivered as the Rangers took batting practice at Globe Life Field, the roof closed as it should always be. That’s right. You saw what I wrote.
Now, read all the other stuff below. I wrote that, too.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
Dunning bad, then good
Outings like the one Dane Dunning turned in are always tough to qualify.
He allowed four first-inning runs as the Angels turned four singles and a walk into an early crooked number.
Dunning allowed only two hits the rest of his outing and left with the Rangers trailing 4-3.
He did what starters who put their team in an early hole are supposed to do — keep the damage at a minimum. In that vein, he gave the Rangers a chance to win the ballgame after making it really hard on them to do so.
“He didn’t give in,” manager Chris Woodward said. “Those are things you’re going to have to go through as a major-league pitcher. For him to go out there and still give us five innings says a lot about his maturity.”
The first inning was a continuation of the third inning Friday at Chicago, where the White Sox pounded out five runs on seven hits. It was a different issue last week — he couldn’t command his slider and the White Sox zeroed in on his fastball — but when Dunning got out of the first Wednesday he had a mechanical adjustment to make.
“I was getting very pull happy with my pitches,” Dunning said. “After that first inning I was able to reevaluate it a little bit. I felt fine when I was pitching out there. It wasn’t something I felt at all. It was something [pitching coach Doug Mathis] brought up to me after the inning.”
The next step is learning how to make the adjustment sooner.
“That’s my goal,” Dunning said.
Opposite-field Willie Calhoun
Willie Calhoun admitted Tuesday that he became homer happy the past two seasons.
Seeing all those balls fly into the right-field seats in 2019 sure was fun, and it seemed so easy to do.
But he also frequently bounced balls into infield shifts on the right side of the infield, and when he wasn’t sending rockets into the outfield, he was making too many outs.
So, he said he embarked upon the 2021 season with a goal in mind: end the shifts against him.
“By the end of the of year I want opposing teams to say, ‘You know what? We can’t shift Willie anymore. Let’s play him straight up,’” Calhoun said.
“The game is going in more of the direction of home runs. The homers are cool, and I’m going to run into some balls. The game I’ve always played ever since I was a little kid, I was able to use the whole field,” he said. “It’s feels pretty cool to be able to do it and implement it right away.”
He’s on his way so far.
Calhoun had another opposite-field hit Wednesday, a grounder that just eluded the dive of Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon to drive in a run in the Rangers’ two-run second inning.
Of his 11 hits this season, seven have been to the left side. Calhoun is riding a six-game hitting streak and will carry a .306 average Thursday into the opener of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
Gallo’s streak ends
Joey Gallo did not homer Wednesday night, the night after hitting his first homer in 20 games. He also failed to reach base for the first time this season.
Gallo popped out down the left-field line on a nice play by Rendon, struck out, grounded to first, and flied to shallow right field.
“I think he took some pretty good swings, especially the second [flyout],” Woodward said. “He just missed that one. If he barrels it up, we’re shaking hands right now.”
Gallo entered the game as the American League leader in walks with 23, two behind MLB leader Max Muncy (Keller High School) with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gallo said again before the game that hitting home runs is not a big deal to him, and that drawing walks is another way he can help the Rangers win games.
Once again, he’s right.
“I think Joey is doing a fantastic job, honestly, just with his decision-making at the plate,” Woodward said. “He can always increase the swing percentage, that’s easy. It’s really hard to go the other way.”
