Perez’s escape, Mazara’s bat push Rangers past Angels

Trouble was finding Martin Perez in the sixth inning Tuesday night, as it seems to do in one pesky inning of each of his starts.

He knows it, too. For some reason, for longer than just this season, an inning arrives when Perez can’t steady himself until the other guys have scored a couple runs.

For a pitcher who has been getting no run support, he and his team couldn’t afford a big inning.

Alas, Perez found the cure to his big-inning woes in a big way, and then Nomar Mazara helped soothe the run-support woes.

Perez’s magical escape in the sixth inning was the highlight of his six scoreless innings, and Mazara followed moments later with a two-run homer as the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-1.

The keys for Perez were keeping his cool and getting ahead early in at-bats. That sounds simple, but for some reason hadn’t been easy until Tuesday.

“It was a tough inning, but at the same time I knew I could finish that inning,” Perez said. “Finally, I was out of that inning, and I got excited. When I throw my first-pitch strike, I know I can go long in the game and I can control everything. When I throw a lot of balls, I can’t do it because I’m fighting myself.”

The Rangers were leading 1-0 after five, and Shane Robinson singled to start the sixth and raced to third as Yunel Escobar followed with a hit. The only worrisome part of the Angels’ lineup was coming.

First up was Kole Calhoun, who sent a chopper to first baseman Mitch Moreland, who fired home to just get Robinson for the first out. All Perez had to do next was get Mike Trout with runners at first and second.

That’s what he did, catching the game’s best player looking at a perfectly placed slider at the knees on the inside corner. The pitch came after a meeting between Perez and catcher Bryan Holaday.

Whatever was said, and both played coy, worked.

“I just said, ‘Throw the pitch where we want it,’ ” said Perez, who allowed five hits and two walks while striking out six. “I think at that time, I needed to throw my best sliders now. This is the time when I need to throw my best pitches.”

Perez looked to pitch around Albert Pujols and then needed to get Johnny Giavotella, one of the Angels’ hottest hitters. Perez struck him out, too, throwing three fastballs at 96, 96 and 95 mph before getting Giavotella on an 88 mph off-speed pitch to end the threat.

Perez pumped his fist and let out a roar as he walked off the field. There was extra energy in the dugout as the Rangers batted. Adrian Beltre was hit by a pitch with one out ahead of Mazara, who crushed a hanging changeup into the upper deck of the home run porch for a 3-0 lead.

The homer was Mazara’s seventh of the season but the first of his career at Globe Life Park. Mazara could feel the momentum for Perez’s escape.

“For sure,” Mazara said. “He got out of that inning, especially facing those guys. Good for him.”

Mazara went 3 for 3 and scored twice, and Ian Desmond went 3 for 4 with a run scored in the eighth inning by racing home after catcher Carlos Perez threw to second after Mazara stopped while trying to steal.

The Angels had scored in the eighth against Matt Bush, the first run allowed in his career, but Sam Dyson needed only 10 pitches for his fifth save.

The reason he got the save chance was because of how Perez (2-4) pitched three innings earlier. Trouble had found him, but he got away with his best pitching of the season.

“It was probably as calm as we’ve seen him in those situations all year long,” manager Jeff Banister said. “He’s been building on that. Early on in the season, those situations he let speed up on him and seemed to get out of control. I felt like he continued to challenge the strike zone, challenge the hitters.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 11:15 PM with the headline "Perez’s escape, Mazara’s bat push Rangers past Angels."