The Angels had a lead, a solid start from José Soriano, and a chance to grab the opener in Arlington. None of it held up once the bullpen got involved.
Los Angeles jumped on Jacob deGrom early Tuesday night, scoring twice in the first inning on an RBI double from Jorge Soler and an RBI single from Josh Lowe. For a moment, it looked like the Angels might carry that fast start all the way through the night against a Rangers team still sitting in the middle of the American League West race.
Texas answered in the second. Nicky Lopez came through with a two-run single to tie it at 2-2, and from there the game settled into a duel between two starters who both did their jobs.
Soriano gave the Angels exactly what they needed. The right-hander worked 6.0 innings, allowed two hits and two earned runs, walked two and struck out four.
He threw 93 pitches, 56 for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 3.40. After a rough June that included a 2-1 record and a 5.34 ERA across 28.2 innings, it was a strong step back in the right direction.
deGrom was sharp too, even in the loss. He went 5.0 innings, gave up five hits and two earned runs, walked two and struck out seven on just 80 pitches. Soriano’s extra inning turned out to matter, at least for a while, because it kept the Angels from having to lean too hard on the bullpen too early.
Los Angeles reclaimed the lead in the seventh when Wade Meckler lined an RBI single off Chris Martin to make it 3-2. Meckler has made the most of his call-up, giving the Angels useful left-handed production after limited action with the San Francisco Giants in 2023. His .284 batting average, .357 on-base percentage and .754 OPS don’t scream headline-grabber, but they’ve been steady for an offense that hasn’t found much consistency.
That edge disappeared almost immediately. Tayler Saucedo came on after Soriano and gave up a solo homer to pinch-hitter Justin Foscue, tying the game at 3-3 in the seventh.
The real damage came in the eighth, when everything fell apart. Sam Bachman entered and was greeted by back-to-back singles from Josh Smith and Jake Burger.
After a groundout moved both runners up, Ezequiel Duran drove in a run with a single. Foscue followed with another RBI hit, and then Alejandro Ozuna blew the game open with a three-run homer.
In one inning, Texas turned a tight game into an 8-3 cushion.
Bachman didn’t make it through the frame and was replaced by Brent Suter, who got the final out. Bachman took his second loss of the season.
The final score was 8-3, and the result stretched the Angels’ losing streak to seven games. They’ll try to stop the slide Wednesday, with Walbert Ureña set to start against MacKenzie Gore for Texas.
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