Texas Rangers Rout Angels, Increase AL West Lead On Astros

The Texas Rangers increased their AL West lead on the Houston Astros with a series-opening win against the Los Angeles Angels.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas Rangers increased beat the Los Angeles Angels 12-0 and increased their lead atop the AL West on the Houston Astros Monday night.

The Rangers' win at Globe Life Field moved them 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Astros, who lost at the Miami Marlins.

It's the largest lead for Texas since a four-game lead on July 20.

The Rangers (71-48) are an MLB-best 41-20 at home and have won eight consecutive games at Globe Life Field.

Texas scored two in the second and three in the third to build a 5-0 lead for starter Max Scherzer, who earned the win to improve to 12-4.

Scherzer held the Angels scoreless on one hit and a walk and struck out a season-high 11 batters in seven innings.

Marcus Semien was 2 for 4 with a three-run homer and five RBI. Semien and Adolis Garcia both homered in the seventh to increase the lead to 11-0. 

The Angels (59-61) were shut out for the fifth time this season and held to a season-low one hit.

The Rangers faced a position player on the mound for the 11th time in 2023, the most in the majors, and the most in a single season by a team. The 2021 Braves did it 10 times.

The Rangers' previous record for a season (excluding Shohei Ohtani) was three in 2014, 2018, and 2019.

Rangers 12, Angels 0

Here are the key takeaways from the Rangers series opener Monday against the Angels

Extra-Base Hit Streak Continues

Robbie Grossman's fifth-inning double gave the Rangers their 78th consecutive game with at least one extra-base hit. It's the fourth-longest such stretch in franchise history and the second-longest active streak in MLB. The Astros increased their league-leading active streak to 81 games on Monday.

Grossman added a second double in the seventh and Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia each homered to add to the extra-base hit totals.

To the Max

Max Scherzer's third start for the Rangers was his best of the bunch so far and perhaps his best of the season. He held the Angels scoreless on one hit and a walk over seven innings while striking out nine.

Marcus Semien Multi-Hit Games

Marcus Semien was 2 for 4 with a three-run homer in the seventh to collect his team-best 41st multi-hit game in 2023. Semien is tied with the Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida for the second-most in the AL. The Blue Jays' Bo Bichette leads the league with 42.

Double Their Pleasure

The Rangers lead MLB with 261 doubles after Robbie Grossman doubled twice Monday night. The Red Sox are second in the league with 258 doubles. Corey Seager and Leody Taveras also had doubles Monday. The next-closest team is the Dodgers with 224.

Up Next

Rangers left-hander Jordan Montgomery (7-10, 3.38) faces Angels right-hander Lucas Giolito (7-8, 4.37) in Game 2 at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.

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You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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