After having tied their longest losing streak of the season in the series opener, the Los Angeles Angels will turn to rookie Walbert Urena to try and snap the skid on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.
The majors-worst Angels (36-56), who reside a season-worst 20 games under .500, have lost seven straight games for the second time this season.
Urena (5-7, 3.03 ERA), however, has been on the few bright spots to the season.
The right-hander has carried a no-hit bid into the fifth of each of his last two starts, including a 1-0 loss at Seattle last Thursday when he allowed one run on one hit while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings. However, control issues — he hit two batters and walked four, including Cal Raleigh with the bases loaded in the sixth inning — came back to haunt him.
“We keep talking about it every time, the composure he has on the mound,” Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki said. “It’s the composure to keep it together and execute a pitch when he needed to, and he’s been doing that time and time again this year so far.”
Urena displayed that composure against Texas in a 5-2 victory on May 23 in Anaheim, Calif., when he picked up the win versus the Rangers. Urena allowed one run on five hits while striking out six over five innings, outdueling Nathan Eovaldi in the process.
Left-hander MacKenzie Gore (5-7, 4.31), who is 0-1 with a 1.98 ERA in three career starts against Los Angeles, gets the start on Wednesday for Texas.
Gore picked up a no-decision in a 2-1 loss to the Angels on May 24 despite allowing just one hit — a Mike Trout RBI single — for his lone run allowed over six innings. He walked two batters and struck out seven.
Texas moved to within a half-game of first place Seattle in the AL West with an 8-3 win in Tuesday’s series opener.
Justin Foscue belted a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh inning to forge a 3-3 tie and then added an RBI single in a five-run eighth.
Alejandro Osuna lined a three-run homer just over the fence in right to cap the comeback win. It was Osuna’s first home run of the season and third of his career.
Foscue’s homer, a 387-foot line drive to left, was the first pinch-hit home run of his career.
“I think tonight was cool, because it was my first pinch-hit home run,” Foscue said. “Every time I go up there and do something for the team, it feels better and better each time.”
“That changed everything,” Osuna said of the energy in the Rangers dugout after Foscue’s homer. “Pinch-hit homer is not easy, and he did it.”
“Pinch-hitting is the hardest thing to do as a hitter in this game,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “It is a nightmare to try and game plan for one at-bat, and be ready in a high leverage situation, usually late in games. … Justin has been huge for us against left-handers all year long. That was one of the biggest hits of his young career so far.”
–Field Level Media
