Beltre Leads Rangers Past Angels 2-1
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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Although Adrian Beltre hasn't played for the Dodgers since 2004, he still lives in Los Angeles. Maybe that's why the Texas Rangers slugger feels so comfortable just down the I-5 freeway at the Big A.
Beltre broke a tie with his 440th homer in the eighth, and Yu Darvish pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning of the Rangers' second win in six games, 2-1 over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
The AL-leading Rangers (84-58) are coasting toward their fourth division title and fifth playoff berth in seven seasons, but they emerged from a five-game lull with a strong effort in Anaheim.
After the clubs traded runs in the seventh to break up a scoreless duel between Darvish and Tyler Skaggs, Beltre connected for his 27th homer off J.C. Ramirez (1-1), sending a line drive over the fence in left-center.
"I was looking for a pitch I could drive, and that was exactly what I got," Beltre said. "It was pretty much middle."
Beltre's homer was his 38th against Los Angeles, the sixth-most by an Angels opponent. Only Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro have more RBIs at Angel Stadium as an opponent than Beltre's 69.
"Home cooking," Beltre said.
Mitch Moreland doubled and scored on Elvis Andrus' seventh-inning single to break open a scoreless game for the Rangers, who boosted their AL West lead to 9 1/2 games over Houston.
Andrelton Simmons drilled a tying triple in the seventh for the Angels, who have lost three straight.
Matt Bush (7-2) struck out Jett Bandy to strand Simmons on third. Sam Dyson pitched the ninth for his 33rd save, giving up a leadoff single to Mike Trout before retiring Simmons on a groundout with two Angels on base.
Darvish and Skaggs traded zeros for the first six innings in the opener of Los Angeles' 10-game homestand.
Darvish bounced back sharply from a rough start last week, limiting the Angels to two singles in the first six innings while striking out nine.
"When I was warming up, I wasn't feeling good," Darvish said. "When I got deeper into the game I was able to make adjustments. I'm very happy about that."
Skaggs had one of his best starts since his return to the majors from Tommy John surgery, giving up two hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. The left-hander struck out eight and allowed just one runner to reach third base.
"I've been out for so long, so this is kind of the middle of the season for me," Skaggs said. "I need to get up to 100 pitches (and) seven or eight innings. I need to stop throwing as many pitches as I do. But there's progress."
Texas finally broke through against Mike Morin in the seventh, but only because Angels fill-in left fielder Jefry Marte took an unadvisable route on Moreland's leadoff fly and allowed an apparently catchable ball to land for a double.
Simmons evened it moments later with an exceptional nine-pitch at-bat. He battled out of an 0-2 count before sending Darvish's 95th and final pitch to the wall in right-center for a triple, scoring Marte from first.
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