ARLINGTON - The Angels spent most of Thursday night chasing Nathan Eovaldi, then finally cracked him in the seventh and nearly stole the game anyway.
Jo Adell, who was supposed to be getting a day off after his two-homer, five-RBI explosion the night before, ended up in the middle of it all. The right fielder had started the previous 11 games, and manager Kurt Suzuki had said before the series finale that Adell needed a breather, especially with the Angels playing on the turf at Globe Life Field for a third straight day.
Instead, Adell came off the bench and delivered the biggest swing of the Angels’ rally, a game-tying pinch-hit single that helped turn a sleepy night into a tense finish. The comeback, though, stopped one run short in a 7-6 Rangers walk-off win on Wyatt Langford’s single off former Texas closer Kirby Yates.
“These guys never give up, and as a manager, as a coaching staff, that’s something that we take a lot of pride in. ... To come back and really have a chance to win that game was impressive,” Suzuki said.
For six-plus innings, Eovaldi looked every bit like the stopper the Rangers wanted. He struck out a season-high 10 and got the third out by strikeout in each of the first five innings. The Angels had little going until the seventh, when Eovaldi didn’t record an out and all three batters he faced reached base on a catcher’s interference, a walk and a single.
That opened the door for Suzuki to go to Adell against lefty Tyler Alexander, a move Suzuki said came down to the matchup.
“We went with the best matchup for us, obviously, and Jo handles lefties really well,” Suzuki said. “He's been around a long time. He knows the situations; he knows what he has to do.”
Adell’s history as a pinch hitter hadn’t given him much reason for confidence. Entering Thursday, he was 2-for-25 (.080) in that role, and he had just one hit in 29 career at-bats with two outs and runners on the corners. But this time he stayed on a low, 84.8-mph changeup and punched it through the left side of the infield, scoring Nolan Schanuel to tie the game.
“I just went in trying to hunt a strike,” Adell said. “[To] pinch hit is never easy. ... I was just trying to get something close, and I put a good swing up.”
Adell got another big spot in the ninth and nearly delivered again. With runners on first and third and two outs, he smoked a 108.8 mph liner straight at center fielder Evan Carter.
“That’s part of it -- when you hit it well, sometimes they find a glove,” Adell said.
The lineout ended the Angels’ last real chance after Schanuel doubled and was replaced by a pinch runner, then Vaughn Grissom drew an 11-pitch walk before Cole Winn entered and retired Adell.
Schanuel was a force all night, finishing 4-for-4 with two doubles and a walk while batting third. The top of the Angels’ order - Zach Neto, Mike Trout and Schanuel - produced three runs and three RBIs, building on the even better showing they had in Wednesday’s 13-1 win over Texas.
The Angels dropped two of three in the series, but Thursday’s loss came with a fight. They were buried early, then made the Rangers sweat before the final out.
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