For a league-high 20th time this season, the Texas Rangers are back at .500.
The Rangers fell 3-2 against the now 46-74 Los Angeles Angels despite a leadoff home run from Joc Pederson and seven strong innings on just 75 pitches from starter Cody Bradford, who made only his second start of the season.
Bradford became the third Texas pitcher since 1998 with a start of 7 or more innings and 75 or fewer pitches.
All of the Angels damage against Bradford came in the third inning as Zach Neto tied the game at one with an RBI single before Nolan Schanuel lifted a sac fly to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead, and Vaughn Grissom knocked in what would end up as the game-winning run on an RBI double.
Despite the big inning, Bradford still finished with a very strong final line of 7IP, 5H, 3R, 1BB, and 1K.
“He [Bradford] was fantastic” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said after the game. “I thought the changeup played really well off the fastball, he landed some curveballs when he needed to, and fastballs up and in when he needed to.”
“He’s a pitch maker, you can see him taking notes in between innings, trying to make sure he’s not repeating the same sequences. He’s really really smart and was really great game planning with [Elias] Diaz and [Austin] Wynns, I thought [Rangers pitching coach Jordan] Tiegs was fantastic as well, we just couldn’t give him [Bradford] any runs.
The Rangers did have multiple chances to score in the middle of the game after Pederson’s seventh leadoff home run of the season but could not come through another than an RBI base hit from newly recalled Jarred Kelenic in the sixth.
Not only did they have the chances but they had the right guys at the plate as Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager had a couple of key missed opportunities to help Texas reclaim the lead.
Langford and Seager combined to go 0-for-8 on the night as a team, the Rangers went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
“I think we were maybe over anxious” Schumaker said when discussing some of the offense’s missed opportunities.
“Multiple times we had guys on the ropes either via the walk or big hit and they [Rangers hitters] kinda rushed through the at-bat in the first couple of pitches for whatever reason. Sometimes we just get off our game plan a little bit during the game we get traffic and just can’t hit them in.
“Definitely a frustrating night, especially with Cody giving us what we needed after a long day yesterday with multiple guys used in the bullpen, and I was hoping the offense would be able to pick us up. Joc had a great night at the top of the lineup, set the tone with the big home run, and just really nothing to show for it after that,” Schumaker finished.
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