July 29, 2022 - Game 99
W - Martín Pérez (9-2)
L - Patrick Sandoval (3-7)
S- None
HR: None
Time of Game: 3:13
Rangers Cowboy Hat Winner: Martín Pérez (5th)
Game Recap
The Rangers and Angels played game two of a four games series on Friday. It was Martín Pérez day in Anaheim as Martín made his second start this season against the Angels. After a small span where Pérez struggled mildly, he’s coming off two good starts against the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics. The Rangers had to face left-hander Patrick Sandoval making his first start against Texas since September 20th, 2020. Unlike Pérez, Sandoval’s last two starts were shorter outings allowing five runs to the Braves and four to the Dodgers. Texas, meantime, had to deal with no Corey Seager Friday as Seager is dealing with a right leg contusion. However, the Rangers call it day-to-day. "I want Corey to be out there with me," Marcus Semien said after the game since he was playing shortstop. "We need that bat in the lineup. Hopefully he can get out there with us and can do our thing."
The Rangers had three baserunners in the first five innings, and the Angels had one. Nick Solak hit a jam-shot broken-bat single in the third inning, Ezequiel Duran walked in the next at-bat, and Solak reached again on a hit-by-pitch in the fifth. Solak ended up getting picked off to end the fifth inning. For the Angels, Jo Adell nearly had an infield hit in the second, but the Rangers challenged the call, and it was clear Adell was out. Adell broke up the Martín Pérez perfect game in the fifth with a double down the left field line with one out. Pérez got Jared Walsh and Kurt Suzuki in back-to-back at-bats to keep the game scoreless. "Sandoval is good," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "He has a plus changeup and I thought he pitched well against us. We had a hard time with that changeup [and] couldn't stay on it. It's a plus plus pitch and we knew that but I thought he pitched effectively."
Texas broke out first in the sixth on a Marcus Semien little league home run. The ruling was a double and an error by Adell to score Semien. "I ran with my head up, saw [the ball] go by, I was going for three, and then I saw Beasley sending me as I ran out of gas," Semien said. "Luckily the throw got away and I was safe." With two outs, Jonah Heim walked, and Adolis García doubled into the same left field corner to score Heim. With a 2-0 lead, the Rangers had runners on the corners and two outs, but Elier Hernández flew out to end the threat. Then, the Angels got on the board on a Luis Rengifo single to left field, scoring Brandon Marsh and cutting the Texas lead to 2-1. With Jo Adell at second base and two outs, Pérez struck out Gosselin on a low-cutter and out of the zone to keep the Rangers on top through seven.
The wheels fell off for the Angels in the ninth. Duran drove in Josh Smith with a double, a Rengifo error scored Kole Calhoun, a wild pitch scored Duran, and Semien scored on a dunking blooper by Leody Taveras. Jonah Heim doubled in another run. At the end, the Rangers scored five runs to add insurance in the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, the Angels scored on a Nathaniel Lowe error allowing Rengifo to score from first base. The lone run was all for Los Angeles and Texas finalized the win tonight.
Martín Pérez had another quality night Friday. With some inconsistent strike calls, Pérez got six total strikeouts with three looking. Martín allowed one run on three hits and two walks. In the seventh, Pérez struck out Walsh as Woodward came to the mound. Woody left Martín in as he retired the final two batters in the seventh to complete his start. "[Martín] has been one of the best pitchers in baseball, an All-Star, and I trust him and Jon Gray more than anybody on our staff and I wanted to see it in his eyes," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "I was going out there with probably the intent to take him out. I can see the frustration. He turned around and kind of looked at me and gave me that look. I was like listen you got any left like you got this guy? He said absolutely."
Matt Moore threw a scoreless uneventful eighth inning retiring the Angels in eleven pitches. Whether Friday was Moore's last outing as a Ranger remains a mystery. "Great job by Matt Moore," Semien said. "He's been huge for us especially on the night where I didn't think he was going to be available. Those are things that veteran guys know that they need to be available and he did it." Matt Bush closed things out to secure the win. Bush allowed a hit and an unearned run in his inning, but finished the game and kept the lead in tact.
Postgame Notes
Rangers have won six of their last seven against the Angels.
Jonah Heim has five doubles since the All-Star break which is tied for 2nd in MLB.
The Adolis García double broke a 2 for 19 stretch for Adolis against Angels pitching (with six strikeouts).
Nathaniel Lowe has reached in eight of the nine games during the current Rangers road trip. Additionally, Lowe has a hit in fifteen of his last eighteen road games.
Jo Adell is responsible for two unconventional inside-the-park home runs ruled errors. In 2020, Nick Solak circled the bases in what ruled a four-base error. On Friday, Marcus Semien circled the bases on a double and a two-base error.
Friday was Martin Perez’s eighth start of seven or more innings and one or fewer runs allowed. Forty percent of Martin’s 2020 starts have been of the variety.
The Rangers have scored six or more runs in five of their last seven games against the Angels.
Shohei Ohtani is 2 for his last 27 against Texas Rangers pitching.
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