Josh Hamilton makes triumphant return in Rangers’ 4-2 win over Angels

Josh Hamilton didn’t quiet the Angel Stadium crowd. All he did was beat up on his old team on their home field, leading the Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the Angels on Friday night.

Hamilton finished the night two for four with a double and two runs scored. Each time he touched a bat or came near the ball, the crowd of 42,046 rained down boos, still mindful of the two poor seasons and an acrimonious split this season.

However, the jeers hardly affected Hamilton, who said before the game that he expected them. He handled a lazy fly ball off the bat of Kole Calhoun in the first inning, one of his only defensive opportunities of the night, and after striking out in his first at-bat, lined a double into the right-field corner with one out in the fifth.

After Elvis Andrus reached on a bloop single to center and sent Hamilton to third, Angels starter Nick Tropeano tried to hold the speedster close to first, attempting four pickoffs and one pitchout before throwing a fifth attempt into the dirt in front of first baseman C.J. Cron. The ball skittered to the wall in foul territory and Hamilton scored on the throwing error. The Rangers added two more runs to take a 3-1 lead.

The Angels looked as though they might respond in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Daniel Robertson reaching on a high-bouncing chopper to third baseman Adrian Beltre and Johnny Giavotella following up with a hard-hit ball up the middle that Andrus stopped but had no chance to make a throw for an out.

With two on and no out, the heart of the order went down meekly, with Calhoun, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols all striking out.

Hamilton added another run in the top of the seventh when he singled to right field, advanced to second on a bunt single by Andrus, and scored on a sacrifice bunt from Robinson Chirinos.

For the Angels, Trout had their only hit through the first five innings, a long blast to left field that cleared both bullpens in the fourth, his 29th homer tying him with Pujols atop baseball.

The tandem have 13 more home runs than the next closest pair in the majors, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. They are also on pace to be the first Angels duo in history to hit 40 long balls or more each.

In the bottom of the eighth, with the Angels trailing 4-1, runners on the corners and two outs, Trout singled to left to score Kyle Kubitza.

Pujols, who had gone 0 for 3 against Rangers starter Colby Lewis, striking out twice, came up with a chance to put the Angels ahead with a three-run homer. He worked a 2-2 count before Rangers reliever Keone Kela got the benefit of a low strike to escape with the lead.

With the victory, Lewis improves to 10-4, despite his 4.44 ERA. He has benefitted from the third-best run support in the majors (5.7). At 7 2/3 innings, Friday’s game marked his longest outing in more than a month.

Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson came on in the ninth and retired the side in order for his third straight perfect inning and 16th saver.

After winning six consecutive games after the All-Star break by scoring 5.7 runs a contest, the Angels have dropped two in a row for the first time since June 20-21.