Texas Rangers Lay Another Egg As Poor Pitching, Poor Offense, Poor Defense Share Blame In Loss To Angels

The Texas Rangers allowed 14 hits, were held to five hits, and committed three errors in a 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels Friday.

May 17, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) fields a ground ball / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers laid another egg Friday night.

Globe Life Field has been something off a chicken coop of late. It stinks.

On Friday, it was a perfect storm of poor pitching, poor hitting, and poor defense.

The Los Angeles Angels handed the Rangers their seventh loss in their past nine games with a 9-3 drubbing in front of about 30,000 restless fans.

The Rangers dropped back to .500 (23-23) after being held to five hits against an Angels staff with the worst ERA in the American League and third worst in the Majors at 4.71 entering Friday's game.

Three of the Rangers hits came in the eighth, which began with the Rangers trailing by six. Marcus Semien's two-run homer made for a more respectable final score. Jonah Heim's solo homer in the second gave the Rangers a brief lead.

so long, partner 🤠#RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/h4ybY83NVo

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) May 18, 2024

Andrew Heaney failed to go at least five innings for the first time since April 13. He left after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. He struck out five.

"I've been good the last four or five times out," said Heaney, who took the loss to drop to 0-5. "This time was just s*****. I'll try not to do that anymore. Sometimes you just don't have your best s***."

The Angels tied it at 1-1 with an unearned run when Nathaniel Lowe's throw home was wide, allowing Luis Rengifo to score in the third. Zach Neto's two-run homer in the fourth gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead before Heaney exited. Adolis Garcia's error on a routine fly ball in the fourth didn't lead to any runs, but it likely prevented Heaney from finishing the inning. The Rangers committed a season-high three errors in the game.

Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson held the Rangers to a run on two hits and two walks over seven innings.

Only two AL teams have a lower slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers than the Rangers. Although the Rangers' batting average is in the middle of the pack against left-handers, their on-base percentage and OPS against lefties are in the bottom third of the league.

The bullpen was no help, either. Grant Anderson, Cole Winn, and Shaun Anderson combined to allow six runs on nine hits and two walks. Anderson, who took over for Heaney, lasted only an inning after being tagged for three runs on two hits and two walks.

The Angels' 14 hits are tied for the most the Rangers have allowed in a game this season. Texas is 1-3 in those games.

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on X @StefanVersusTex.

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and X.