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Angels fall to Rangers 7-5 in extras with wild-card playoffs still in reach

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What was once a pipe dream harbored only by the team’s fans, employees and players has become attainable. Even after their 7-5 loss in 10 innings to Texas on Wednesday, the resilient Angels are 35 games of above-average baseball away from earning a spot in the Oct. 3 American League wild-card game. As their unlikely season swirls and sways toward potential playoff position, a clear, present need has sprung: someone good to start that game against an opposing ace.

For a team in desperate search of a starter it can count on, Andrew Heaney represents an intriguing option. Heaney and his left arm have long been prized because of his propensity for control. That ability remains, as his walk-free first two starts back from elbow ligament replacement surgery have demonstrated. But hurdles, too, linger. In 10 innings between those two starts, including Wednesday at Angel Stadium, he has surrendered 15 hits, seven home runs, and nine runs.

He framed his outings in the same way the Angels have their year: flawed, but with enough positives to move forward with hope.

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“Every single time that we’re faced with adversity, our guys have stepped up,” Heaney said. “I’m going to do the exact same.”

On the simplest level, Heaney is an odd man on whom to rest the team’s fortunes. He was supposed to miss this season. Arm pain he felt in Anaheim on the second day of the 2016 season gave way to a torn ligament diagnosis, some failed injections, and eventually a successful surgery.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said in spring training he could not see any possible way the pitcher would appear for the team in 2017. But Heaney believed he had a chance all along, steadily worked toward it, and proved his manager wrong.

In the first inning, he pumped his fastball harder and harder to strike out the side, once reaching up to 95 mph. It felt great, he said. Then his inability to command his curveball became clearer, and he had to depend on his fastball to stay in the strike zone. Perhaps sensing that, Adrian Beltre reached out to meet Heaney’s second fastball of the second and send it five feet beyond the left-field wall.

Robinson Chirinos hit a solo shot off a Heaney fastball in the third, and Beltre another off another fastball in the fourth. In the fifth, two Texas singles and a bunt scored a run. In the sixth, a Texas single and a double forced Heaney out of the game.

“I’m going to keep working to have more innings like the first,” Heaney said. “I want to feel in control of what’s happening, feel good about my process and the results I’m getting.”

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Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney gave up four runs -- three home runs -- on eight hits over five innings while striking out four batters against the Rangers.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Reliever Yusmeiro Petit entered, struck out Mike Napoli, issued an intentional walk to induce a favorable matchup, struck out Chirinos, and earned an inning-ending flyout from Ryan Rua. Sixteen opponents have stood on the basepaths when Petit has taken the mound mid-inning this season. None have scored. No one in the sport has stranded more inherited runners without a mishap.

Rookie right-hander Eduardo Paredes inherited an unvarnished 10th inning but yielded the winning three runs on three singles, two walks and a sacrifice fly.

Cameron Maybin led off the Angels’ first inning with a single. The next 10 Angels to bat could not record a hit, until Albert Pujols snuck a single through to center to begin the fourth. With one out, Andrelton Simmons followed with another single, and Luis Valbuena soon sent a two-strike changeup soaring into the right-field seats. That tied the score, 3-3.

Come the sixth, Valbuena again tied the score, singling after Simmons doubled down the left-field line and swiped third on a delayed steal.

Petit pitched a perfect seventh and Blake Parker a clean eighth before Bud Norris took the mound for the ninth. With one out, he hit Chirinos with a cutter, then allowed a liner into left field. Maybin sprinted, dove and caught it, saving a certain single and possible double.

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Undeterred, Norris allowed two clean singles. On the second, into center, Mike Trout cleanly recovered the ball and fired a strike home, where catcher Martin Maldonado tagged out Chirinos. After an extended review, the call was confirmed, the remaining crowd electrified, and, soon, the game sent into extras.

Short hops

The Angels will recall right-hander Troy Scribner from triple-A Salt Lake to start Thursday against Texas, taking the rotation spot of the injured JC Ramirez. Scribner, 26, has allowed three earned runs over nine innings in two previous starts this season. … Left fielder Ben Revere expects to miss a few days after fouling a ball off a muscle above his knee Tuesday. It is sore, he said, but should not force him to the disabled list. ...On the disabled list because of a strained oblique, third baseman Yunel Escobar took batting practice for the first time in two weeks Wednesday.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Follow Pedro Moura on Twitter @pedromoura

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