Cody Bradford pitched six quality innings and Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer in the first, helping the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Thursday in Arlington, Texas.
Braford (5-2) allowed one run on two hits while striking out four and walking two.
It was Bradford’s third straight start in which he threw six or more innings and surrendered two earned runs or fewer. The left-hander lowered his ERA to 3.05.
Josh Jung went 3-for-4 while Marcus Semien and Nathaniel Lowe each tallied two hits as Texas (68-73) posted its eighth win in 10 games.
Kirby Yates picked up his 27th save of the season, striking out all three batters he faced.
Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-4) went six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits while walking a batter and striking out none.
Zach Neto had three of the four hits produced by Los Angeles (58-82), which has dropped 13 of 18 games. The latest defeat guaranteed the Angels their ninth straight losing season.
In the bottom of the first, Semien led off with a single, and Josh Smith singled two batters later.
Garcia then hit his 22nd homer of the year, a 389-foot blast to right-center that put Texas up 3-0.
In the third inning, Los Angeles’ Taylor Ward drew a one-out walk. Neto’s single put runners on the corners for Nolan Schanuel, who drove in Ward on a groundout.
After 90 pitches, Bradford was replaced by Jose Leclerc for the top of the seventh. After walking Jo Adell and allowing a single to Brandon Drury, Leclerc struck out Charles Leblanc and got Matt Thaiss to ground into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.
Ryan Zeferjahn replaced Kochanowicz and threw two scoreless innings.
David Robertson pitched the eighth for Texas, working around Neto’s two-out single while striking out three.
Texas has won four of the seven matchups with Los Angeles this season with three games to go in the current series.
–Field Level Media
