Inside The Rangers

Rangers, Allard Bitten By Ohtani's 43rd Homer In Third Straight Loss

The Texas Rangers dropped their third straight game as they felt the wrath of a Shohei Ohtani home run that blew the game open in the sixth inning.

Chris Halicke

The 2021 season is winding down, and it is looking more and more like the first 100-loss season for the Texas Rangers since 1973.

The Rangers dropped their third straight game on Saturday night to the Los Angeles Angels by a score of 4-1. The Texas lineup was thwarted by Angels starter José Suarez, who pitched a complete game for the Halos. 

The only run of the game for the Rangers came on an RBI groundout by Adolis García in the ninth inning. Even the Rangers' hottest hitter, Nick Solak, saw his 11-game hit streak come to an end, as he went 0-for-3 with two ground outs and a pop out. Leody Taveras continued to hit out of his slump, registering two of the Rangers' five hits.

"He had our best at-bats tonight," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward.

Rangers starter Kolby Allard matched Suarez blow for blow early on, as both pitchers made quick work of their opposing lineups in the first couple of innings. The first hit of the game belonged to Angels outfielder Juan Lagares, who took Allard deep with one out in the third inning to break the scoreless tie.

The solo homer was the only blip on the radar through the first five innings with the exception of just a few scattered hits between both sides. However, Shohei Ohtani — as he's done so many times for the Angels this season — changed the game with one swing.

After Allard walked Luis Rengifo and David Fletcher reached on a crucial error by Charlie Culberson to lead off the sixth inning, Ohtani parked a no-doubter into the right field seats for a three-run homer.

What adds to the legend of Ohtani is his remarkable two-way ability. Just one night prior, Ohtani threw a career-high 117 pitches, lowering his season ERA to 2.97 in the Angels' 3-2 defeat of the Rangers. On Saturday, he went 2-for-4 with his 43rd home run of the season, which leads all of Major League Baseball and is just four shy of the Angels' all-time single season home runs record of 47, set by Troy Glaus in 2000.

That is why he is the runaway favorite for American League MVP.

Surprisingly, the Rangers have done a very good job against Ohtani this season. Prior to Saturday night, the Rangers have held Ohtani to a .695 OPS in 12 games, which is the lowest among all American League opponents.

"Obviously, this guy wants to hit," Woodward said. "He's a little bit impatient at times, and we've done a good job of keeping him at bay and keeping [pitches] off the plate. Tonight, obviously Kolby made a mistake down the middle."

All in all, Allard was solid for the Rangers for 5 2/3 innings, despite the three-run homer to Ohtani. He was effective and efficient through the first five innings, but saw his line ruined by the Angels two-way superstar in the sixth. Demarcus Evans and Spencer Patton followed with two solid performances out of the bullpen, shutting out the Angels for the remaining 2 1/3 innings of the ballgame.

"Before that [sixth inning], Kolby was executing all of his pitches, he was throwing really well, he was cruising right along," Woodward said. "That's just unfortunate for him, how that game turned out for him in that sixth inning. Overall, it was a decent outing. It just doesn't look good in the box score."

What's Next

The Rangers (47-88) and Angels (68-68) play the third game of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim. Taylor Hearn (4-4, 3.96 ERA) will look to continue his fine form for Texas, while the Angels call up Janson Junk (0-0, -.-- ERA) to make his MLB debut.

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Chris Halicke
CHRIS HALICKE

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