Dustin Garneau’s grand slam a bright spot in Angels’ 10-6 loss to Rangers
Reporting from tempe, ariz. — The Angels lost 10-6 to the Texas Rangers on Thursday at Tempe Diablo Stadium. The Angels are 4-3 in Cactus League play.
AT THE PLATE: Into the left-field berm traveled a baseball hit by non-roster invitee Dustin Garneau. The pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning ended a Rangers shutout and cut their lead to 9-4. … Minor leaguers Roberto Pena and Jhoan Urena each tacked on a two-out RBI hit in the ninth inning. … Catcher Jonathan Lucroy drew a walk to lead off the fourth inning but never scored. He reached third base as Tommy La Stella and Jarrett Parker earned free passes of their own to load the bases with one out. Jo Adell and Peter Bourjos struck out, thwarting the rally with the Angels trailing 7-0. … Bourjos’ double in the third was the only hit the Angels logged through four innings. Bourjos, who is competing for the Angels’ fourth outfielder job, has gone six for 10 in four games. … The Angels stranded eight on base.
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ON THE MOUND: In the ninth inning, Jared Walsh, one of four Angels not named Shohei Ohtani who are being groomed as two-way players this spring, made his first pitching appearance of the spring. He needed only 13 pitches to get three outs — a ground ball to third base, a fly ball to center field and a pop-up to second base. “He seems to be a little bit sneaky with the fastball,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “I think it plays up.” … Despite retiring four of the seven batters he faced via strikeout, starter Tyler Skaggs did not limit damage in his debut. He lost some fastball command in the second inning. He allowed back-to-back home runs to division rivals Joey Gallo and Matt Davidson. Skaggs, however, said he made progress working on his changeup, which he threw only 14% of the time last season. “I threw some really good ones today,” he said. “They didn’t really swing at it. I was hoping they would but I kept everything down, which is the main thing with the changeup.” … Right-hander Daniel Hudson and left-hander Dan Jennings, relievers who are in Angels camp as non-roster invitees, pitched their first innings in Angels uniforms. Hudson allowed a home run in an otherwise uneventful third inning. Jennings allowed a walk and a hit in the fourth and emerged unscathed. … “I thought we pitched pretty well except for the homers,” Ausmus said.
EXTRA BASES: Gallo, a utility player, smoked a solo home run to left field to start the Rangers’ six-run second inning. “I would have loved to know the exit velo on [that],” Skaggs said. “That was a good one. I think it put a dent in the grass out there.”
UP NEXT: The Angels will host the Kansas City Royals at Tempe Diablo Stadium at 12:10 PST. Right-hander Forrest Snow is slated to start. TV: Fox Sports West. Radio: 830.
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