Rangers recap: Texas bullpen craters against Angels with West title three outs away

The Texas Rangers blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Angels rallied for an 11-10 win.

The Rangers were one out away from clinching the American League West but four consecutive singles against reliever Ross Ohlendorf allowed the Angels, who started the ninth with back to back homers against closer Shawn Tolleson, to reclaim the lead.

The Rangers and Angels meet at 2 p.m. Sunday in the regular-season finale. Texas can clinch the West title with a win or an Astros loss either Saturday night or Sunday in Arizona. Cole Hamels (12-8, 3.72 ERA), who came over in a trade with the Phillies on July 31, will start for the Rangers against right-hander Nick Tropeano (3-2, 3.82).

Pitching: Colby Lewis held the Angels to two hits through the first four innings. In the fourth, Mike Trout doubled with one out and scored on David Murphy’s two-out bloop that dropped in the left-center field gap to tie it at 1-1. The first four Angels reached in the fifth on singles and a run-scoring double by Carlos Perez. Sam Freeman replaced Lewis with two on and no outs and walked Kole Calhoun on five pitches. Chi Chi Gonzalez relplaced Freeman and surrendered a Mike Trout sacrifice fly to center to give the Angels a 5-1 lead. After a walk to Albert Pujols, Gonzalez induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Jake Diekman started the seventh and recorded two outs before Keone Kela came in with one on. He allowed a hit before fielding Murphy’s comebacker to end the inning. Sam Dyson worked a scoreless eighth and Shawn Tolleson allowed two solo homers in the ninth before Ross Ohlendorf took over. The Angels added another two runs to tie it at 10-10. C.J. Cron, David Freese and Carlos Perez and Giavotella each singled to against Ohlendorf. Left-hander Andrew Faulkner came in and retired Calhoun to end the inning.

Hitting: Adrian Beltre doubled with two outs in the first but Prince Fielder struckout swinging to end the inning. Josh Hamilton’s one-out, solo homer in the second gave Texas a 1-0 lead. Elvis Andrus followed with a double to the left-field corner but Rougned Odor popped out to center and Robinson Chirinos struck out to end the inning.

Trailing 5-1 in the fifth, Texas rallied to score four in the inning. The Angels made two errors both on plays at second base. Andrus led off with a walk and scored on Odor’s single. Robinson Chirinos’ grounder to third was thrown away by David Freese when Odor slid hard and caught second baseman Johnny Giavotella on the shin and ankle with his spikes. Odor scored on Delino DeShields’ single to shallow center. Shin-Soo Choo reached on a fielder’s choice when shortstop Erick Aybar’s throw to second was errant. That loaded the bases for Beltre, who ripped a single to center to score two and tie it at 5-5. The Rangers still had two on with no outs but Fielder, Mike Napoli and Hamilton were retired by Jose Alvarez who relieved Fernando Salas. Starter Hector Santiago began the fifth but was replaced by Salas to face Beltre. Santiago was charged five runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk in four innings. After the Angels took a 6-5 lead in the top of the sixth, Andrus led off with an infield single. Chirinos and pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland followed with one-out walks to load the bases for Choo. Choo poked an opposite-field single through the left side to score two, giving Texas a 7-6 lead. Beltre followed with a first-pitch single to left to make it 8-6. Hamilton and Odor each hit solo homers in the seventh to give Texas a 10-6 lead.

In the ninth, Andrus singled but was thrown out trying to steal second. He slid in safely but came off the bag to end the game.

Notable: Lewis set a career-high 204 2/3 innings with four innings Saturday. He threw 201 innings in 2010 … Beltre has 30 RBI in his past 22 games ... Hamilton hit two homers in a game for the first time since May 29 against the Red Sox.

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Texas bullpen craters against Angels with West title three outs away."