A.J. Griffin returns to mound a winner for Texas Rangers

As if A.J. Griffin didn’t have enough nerves running through his system Friday night, the Texas Rangers went out and scored three runs before he had even thrown a pitch.

“Holy smokes, that doesn’t happen often,” Griffin said. “I was like, ‘I better not mess this one up.’ ”

He didn’t. Far from it. The right-hander gave the Texas Rangers just about all they could have asked from him.

Griffin allowed three runs in six innings in his first big league start since Sept. 24, 2013, and the Rangers’ offense posted its best game of the young season in a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Griffin was the winning pitcher, his first win since Sept. 12, 2013, and the performance helped the Rangers snap a three-game losing streak on a night when their top three right-handed relievers were unavailable.

“It’s awesome,” said Griffin, who missed the past two seasons because of elbow and shoulder injuries. “I’ve been working really hard to try to get back and try to compete at the highest level. To do it with a team like this, a great group of guys we have, it’s pretty fun.”

Rougned Odor hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot in the third, and four other players drove in a run apiece as the Rangers collected season-highs in runs and hits (10). Delino DeShields had two hits, two stolen bases and two runs, the second coming on a wild pitch in the fourth.

DeShields started the game with a walk, one of seven the Rangers collected against four of the five Angels pitchers. They have 22 walks this season.

“We’ve been creating a lot of opportunities, but not getting lucky,” shortstop Elvis Andrus said. “Tonight we got the hits.”

Griffin’s success was predicated on first-pitch strikes, which he threw to 16 of the 26 batters he faced. He walked two and struck out only one, but he also kept the ball in the ballpark after allowing six homers in 18 innings during spring training.

The three-run lead as he took the mound also allowed him to settle in and pitch his game, and despite what he said, no pitcher every complains about having an early lead.

He needed 23 pitches in a scoreless first inning, then saw the Angels score single runs in each of the next three innings. The RBI triple he allowed to Cliff Pennington with one out in the fourth was the sixth and final hit he allowed.

Griffin was locked in the rest of the way, retiring the final eight batters he faced on 27 pitches. Included was a 10-pitch 1-2-3 inning in which he retired Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun.

The Rangers kept on scoring after posting a three-spot in the first. Odor connected in the third after Ian Desmond had walked with one out, and DeShields turned his first hit of the season into a run as he advanced three bases on consecutive wild pitches.

Andrus dumped a two-out single into left field to score Desmond for a four-run cushion as a thinned-out bullpen took over.

Tom Wilhelmsen worked a scoreless seventh, thanks to a diving catch in left field by Desmond and a slick double-play turn by Odor. Wilhelmsen returned for the eighth, quickly got Trout and Pujols, but issued a walk, a single and a walk to bring the tying run to the plate.

Tony Barnette entered, and after falling behind 3-1 to Carlos Perez, he got the catcher on a liner to center field.

“It was a big situation, but it wasn’t anything I haven’t been in before,” said Barnette, a former star closer in Japan. “When you fall behind in that situation, you don’t have room to mess around.”

Jake Diekman finished off the win with a perfect ninth with closer Shawn Tolleson and set-up men Sam Dyson and Keone Kela down to rest.

The night, though, belonged to Griffin, even though he ducked much of the credit by calling it a “great team win.”

Manager Jeff Banister, though, praised Griffin.

“Outstanding performance by A.J.,” Banister said. “What a plus for him after two years to be back on a major league mound. And to pitch like that, it’s just outstanding.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 1:39 AM with the headline "A.J. Griffin returns to mound a winner for Texas Rangers."