Baseball

Fans combine to hold up a sign that reads “Come To Texas,” while Ohtani was at-bat during; Rangers Beat Angels 7-3

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani follows through on a single off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, front, as catcher Jonah Heim and umpire John Tumpane watch during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, in Arlington, Texas.

12:45 JST, August 16, 2023

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager hit two homers and drove in five runs and the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat the slumping Los Angeles Angels 7-3 on Tuesday night.

Seager had a two-run homer that just cleared the left-center wall and later pulled a no-doubt shot into the right-field seats for his 12th career multihomer game. The All-Star shortstop capped his three-hit night with a two-run single in the eighth inning.

Jordan Montgomery (8-10) struck out nine without a walk over six innings in his third start for the Rangers since they got him in a trade deadline deal from last-place St. Louis. The left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA for Texas.

Angels starter Lucas Giolito (7-9), one of their deadline acquisitions, allowed four runs while throwing a season-high 110 pitches over six innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked two.

Los Angeles (59-62) kept two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who can become a free agent this offseason, and made moves hoping for a playoff push. The Angels are instead 3-11 in August and now three games under .500 for the first time this season. They are eight games behind the American League’s final wild-card spot, with three teams between them and that.

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Fans combine to hold up a sign that reads “Come To Texas,” while Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani was at-bat during the third inning of the Angels’ baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, in Arlington, Texas.

Seager’s opposite-field shot to left-center in the third inning went 383 feet, and had already cleared the wall when leaping center fielder Jordyn Adams appeared to get his glove to the ball. When Adams landed on his feet, he reached into his glove like he might have the ball.

Seager has 73 RBIs and is hitting .350, which would lead the AL a wide margin if he qualified. He missed 40 games this season because of two stints on the injured list.

Travis Jankowski led off the Texas third with a walk before scoring on Marcus Semien’s triple before Seager’s first homer. Jankowski hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Seager second homer came in the seventh.

Luis Rengifo snapped an 0-for-13 slide with an RBI single in the Angels fifth, and there were still two runners on when Ohtani took an inning-ending called third strike on a 92.8 mph sinker by Montgomery. Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the ninth.