Rangers rally past Angels for fourth straight win

Whether the three-hour-plus baseball game Saturday night rated as a good one or a sloppy one, the final result is that the Texas Rangers won for the fourth straight time and a second straight time over one of the two teams ahead of them in the American League West.

The Rangers rallied past the Los Angeles Angels 7-6, erasing deficits of 4-1 and 6-4 to shave their deficit behind the and Houston Astros to 6 1/2 games.

They did so even though starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo struggled again. But the Rangers took advantage of some Angels defensive miscues and with heady base running, quality at-bats, and a scoreless eighth inning from Tanner Scheppers.

“I believe, more than anything else, that was a complete team effort,” manager Jeff Banister said. “These guys have got a lot of fight. It is important. They’re all vital.”

The game also featured an unusual play in the sixth as Elvis Andrus flipped his glove into the air in the direction of a Kole Calhoun RBI single. Had his glove touched the ball, by rule Calhoun would have been awarded three bases.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia asked the umpires if there had been any glove-to-ball contact. Though Andrus said the ball was past him, he also said that it was something he should have never done.

“I did that, like, unconscious,” he said. “As soon as I throw the glove and grab it back, it was like, ‘Did I really do that?’ It’s not going to happen again. I apologized to the manager and the coaches.”

Rougned Odor homered in the first inning, Robinson Chirinos drove in two runs, and Delino DeShields pushed home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with a high chopper off the plate to score Josh Hamilton.

Scheppers, who struggled in his first three outings after the All-Star break, tossed a scoreless eighth. Shawn Tolleson worked around a two-out single by Albert Pujols to close it out and save the win for Spencer Patton (1-0), who worked a scoreless seventh.

Gallardo lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks. He needed 92 pitches to record 12 outs, and was on the hook for the loss after allowing the Angels to snap a 4-4 tie only two batters into the fifth.

“These guys picked me up,” said Gallardo, who has allowed 10 runs in two starts/eight innings since the All-Star break. “I have to turn it around.”

Down 4-1 in the fourth, the Rangers scored twice with two outs. Shin-Soo Choo drew a four-pitch walk from Hector Santiago, who entered the game with a 0.93 ERA in three starts this season vs. the Rangers, and scored as Ryan Rua doubled past the dive of left fielder Kyle Kubitza.

Odor was hit by a Santiago pitch to open the fifth, moved to second on a single by one-out single by Prince Fielder, and raced home with the tying run as Pujols threw wildly to second base after grabbing Andrus’ tapper.

Pujols doubled off Gallardo moments later and scored as Erick Aybar followed with a single. After the glove-flip play made it 6-4, Andrus started the eighth with an infield hit to start the winning rally.

Mitch Moreland moved Andrus to third with a pinch-hit single, and then Andrus raced home during another odd play. Choo sent a ground smash to Pujols, who touched first base for one out and threw to Aybar at second to get Moreland.

But Aybar, the shortstop, saw Andrus break for home and threw to the plate without tagging Moreland for the second out. Everyone was safe, and, after Josh Hamilton walked, Robinson Chirinos singled in Moreland and Hamilton went to third.

“I was reading that play,” Andrus said. “As soon as he threw the ball, I’m going to try to score if they’re going to try to tag the runner.”

DeShields followed with a bouncer off the plate for an infield hit, and Hamilton scored the go-ahead run easily.

Scheppers pitched around a one-out walk and stranded pinch-runner Taylor Featherston at second by striking out Johnny Giavotella, and Tolleson notched his 17th save.

“Anytime that you can not play extremely well but get some timely hitting, some good base running and some contributions from everybody … they can be motivators for you,” Banister said. “We’ve got to finish the job tomorrow. We’ve got to come back tomorrow and let this motivate ride for us.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2015 at 1:14 AM with the headline "Rangers rally past Angels for fourth straight win."