The playoff-contending Texas Rangers will try to earn a split of their four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on Thursday night.
To do that, two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will have to do something he’s never done — win at Angel Stadium.
The right-handed deGrom (8-7, 3.87 ERA) is 1-3 with a 4.98 ERA in seven career appearances (all starts) vs. the Angels. Taken further, he is 0-2 with a 7.79 ERA in four career starts in Anaheim, including a 9-6 loss on May 22 that saw him give up six runs and six hits in just three innings.
Zach Neto homered to ignite a four-run first inning in that contest, and Wade Meckler added a three-run shot for the Angels.
deGrom comes in off a 5-1 win over Baltimore on Saturday in his first start after the trade deadline, allowing one run on three hits in five innings while striking out nine.
“I’m sure there were a lot of emotions whether (deGrom is) going to admit it or not,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said, referring to the proposed trade involving his pitcher to the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline.
“But he stepped up and gave us exactly what we needed.”
Texas is in second place in the American League West, 1 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros and a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers in the chase for the final AL wild-card spot. If the Rangers fail to make the playoffs, they need only look to their surprisingly futility against the woeful Angels.
Los Angeles improved to 6-3 against Texas this season, including 5-1 at Angel Stadium, with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday.
Rookie George Klassen won his first major league game in his fourth career start, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings.
Right-hander Walbert Urena (7-8, 2.83 ERA), who is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in two career starts against Texas, will get the nod on Thursday for Los Angeles. The Angels will try for their first series win since July 20-22, when they took two of three games from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Urena defeated the Rangers in his only career start against them at Angel Stadium, recording a 5-2 decision on May 23. He allowed one run on five hits and three walks over five innings while striking out six.
Los Angeles snapped a streak of 16 games of scoring four runs of less in Wednesday’s 5-2 win.
Mike Trout led the way offensively, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Jose Siri had an RBI double and scored what proved to be the winning run on a squeeze by Denzer Guzman in the sixth inning.
Trout, who entered the game hitting .167 with runners in scoring position, had two hits with runners in scoring position in the win.
“It’s baseball,” he told The Orange County Register. “When it’s not going your way, sometimes you press a little bit. Keep it simple. Good things happen.”
–Field Level Media
