Rangers extend their season with 6-2 victory over Angels
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers kept their season alive on Sunday with a 6-2 victory over the Angels that forced a one-game wild-card tiebreaker against Tampa Bay Monday night at the Ballpark in Arlington. The winner will advance to Wednesday’s one-game wild-card playoff against the Cleveland Indians.
The Rangers snapped a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning when Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski singled with two outs and Geovany Soto drove a run-scoring double into right-center field off Angels starter Jason Vargas.
Ian Kinsler pushed the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single in the seventh, and Beltre crushed his 30th homer of the season and Soto his ninth, both off Angels closer Ernesto Frieri, in the eighth inning, as Texas completed a four-game sweep.
BOX SCORE: Rangers 6, Angels 2
Mike Trout’s fourth career homer off Yu Darvish, a solo shot to center in the first, gave the Angels a 1-0 lead that held up until the bottom of the fifth.
But within seconds of the Rays nailing down their 7-6 win over Toronto, a result that forced the Rangers to win to extend their season, Craig Gentry drove a two-run single to center to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
Pierzynski had led off with a double to left-center, Soto walked, and both advanced on Vargas’ wild pick-off throw to second.
J.B. Shuck grounded into the Angels’ 149th double play of the season in the sixth, breaking a club record set in 1996, but Erick Aybar singled with two outs, Trout walked, and Josh Hamilton, the former Rangers star, greeted reliever Neal Cotts with an RBI single to left-center to tie the score, 2-2.
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