Rangers Rally, Walkoff Against Angels For Second Night In A Row 14-11
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Leonys Martin hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Texas Rangers, after trailing four times, pulled out a 14-11 victory over the Los Angeles Angels that took nearly five hours Tuesday night.
Daniel Stange (0-1), making his Angels debut and his first major league appearance since 2010, walked Mitch Moreland and Geovany Soto to start the 10th. David Murphy then reached on a fielder's choice before Los Angeles put five players in the infield with only two outfielders.
That alignment didn't matter when Martin sent his sixth homer of the season to the opposite field, barely clearing the 14-foot wall and just inside the left-field foul pole. It was the seventh at-bat in the game for the Texas leadoff hitter, who got more than just a ball to the outfield that would have won the game.
Closer Joe Nathan (2-1), the sixth Rangers pitcher, worked around a leadoff walk in the 10th for a scoreless inning.
It was the second night in a row the Rangers had a game-ending homer -- the first time they've done that since 1981.
Texas has consecutive victories for the first time in three weeks after scoring in each of the last four innings. The Rangers also gained ground on AL West-leading Oakland for the first time since June 27 -- a span of 33 days. The Athletics lost 5-0 at home against Toronto, a West Coast game that ended before this one did after 4 hours, 46 minutes and just before midnight.
Texas, which won the series opener Monday when A.J. Pierzynski and Geovany Soto homered in the ninth off Angels closer Ernesto Frieri, forced extra innings Tuesday after Ian Kinsler drew a two-out walk in the ninth against Frieri. Kinsler then stole second base and scored on Adrian Beltre's single to make it 11-all.
Frieri had converted 25 of 27 saves before his consecutive blown chances in Texas.
Mark Trumbo and Collin Cowgill homered for the Angels, who lost their fifth straight game. Josh Hamilton, the 2010 AL MVP who spent the past five seasons in Texas, drove in four runs, while Mike Trout was 4 for 4 and with two walks after going 2 for 2 with two walks Monday night.
The only Angels starter without a hit was third baseman Alberto Callaspo. He was replaced in the field in the fifth after being traded to AL West-leading Oakland for infielder Grant Green.
The Angels had their biggest lead, 11-7, after a four-run eighth that included an unusual groundout.
Chris Iannetta had a leadoff double in the eighth off before J.B. Shuck singled. Erick Aybar's grounder easily scored pinch-runner Kole Calhoun for an 8-7 lead, but Shuck stopped in the middle of the baseline to avoid being tagged by second baseman Ian Kinsler.
After Kinsler threw to first, Shuck got out of a rundown when the fifth relay throw wasn't caught by pitcher Tanner Scheppers, an error that allowed him to get back to first. Howie Kendrick then added a two-run single, his 1,000th career hit, before Hamilton's RBI single.
Soto got the Rangers within 11-10 with his three-run homer in the eighth, that ball landing not far from where he hit his game-ending homer Monday night.
Every Texas starter had a hit off C.J. Wilson, who allowed six runs and a season-high 11 hits while throwing 109 pitches in four innings against his former team. Los Angeles trailed 6-3 after the left-hander threw his last pitch. He struck out six and walked three.
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