Angels Coast to 8-2 Win As Richards Stymies Rangers
ARLINGTON (CBSLA.com) — After a needed day off the Los Angeles Angels came out strong against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. This was the first time the Angels would take on their former outfielder Josh Hamilton since they let him go him earlier in the season.
Hamilton did double in the contest but it would not be nearly enough to overcome an Angels offense that racked up 15 hits on Friday night on their way to an 8-2 victory.
The Angels put up six runs in the 2nd inning to jump out to an early lead. C.J. Cron knocked in the first run with an RBI Single, which was followed by a Kole Calhoun bases clearing double to make the lead 4-0. Still in the 2nd inning, the Angels would tack on two more as Erick Aybar had a 2 RBI single, on his way to a career high five hit night.
Calhoun would double again in the 3rd inning driving in Angels catcher Carlos Perez to make it a 6-0 lead after 3 innings. The Angels would continue to pour it on as David Freese knocked in a run with an RBI single in the 4th.
Angels ace Garrett Richards coasted through the first 5 innings without allowing a run, but would surrender one off of an Adrian Beltre RBI single in the 6th inning to cut the lead down to 8-1. Richards would be pulled from the game after 104 pitches and going 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and one walk. He also struck out six batters and lowered his ERA to 3.35.
Rangers' starter Chi Chi Gonzales would not fare well in his outing against the Angels, lasting just 1 2/3 innings while allowing six earned runs.
Ryan Rua, who entered the game for Josh Hamilton in the 8th inning, hit a solo home run for the Rangers in the bottom of the 9th inning against Angels pitcher Mike Morin to make the score 8-2. That would be the final score as Morin would settle down to finish the 9th inning as the Angels won the first game of the series handily.
The Angels play two more games in Texas before heading to Colorado for a brief two game series.
Hector Santiago takes the mound tomorrow night for the Halos as he faces veteran southpaw Wandy Rodriguez in the second game of the series.
