ANAHEIM — Just when the offense seemed at a low point in the dog days of summer, it has suddenly shown signs of life.
After ending a 16-game streak of failing to score five runs or more the previous night, the Angels went right back to work on Thursday night.
The Angels logged 15 hits, with seven of them coming with two strikes, in their 7-0 win over the Rangers.
“We've been stressing it,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Battling and focusing on not giving yourself up and striking out. “I mean, that's kind of been the theme, right? We've been talking about strikeouts. So, for the guys to make an adjustment against a tough pitcher and really just all night, just having good at-bats all the way to the end. We put the ball in play and things can happen.”
In that 16-game stretch, the Angels hit .200 with a .574 OPS and averaged just 2.5 runs per game.
Every single batter had a hit in this one, with four Angels having multi-hit games. Mike Trout and Denzer Guzman each tallied three hits on the night.
Wednesday was the first time since May of 2018 that Trout notched three hits in consecutive games. Trout raised his batting average for the season from .235 to .245 in just two games.
It was a pair of big innings that did the bulk of the work for the Angels, and it started against an elite pitcher that they have given fits to over the last few years.
Facing right-hander Jacob deGrom, Guzman led off the second inning with a single and got to third base on Josh Lowe’s double. Then, Adam Frazier, Wade Meckler and Trout hit consecutive two-strike singles to scratch a pair of runs across the board.
deGrom left the game after the inning was over due to tricep fatigue. His ERA against the Angels in his career is now 5.20 over eight starts. deGrom’s career ERA is 2.67 in 271 starts.
“When you're facing the best in the game, you want to elevate to that level,” Lowe said.
Then in the fourth, the offense erupted for four runs on six hits against left-hander Jordan Montgomery. All six hits were singles, and three of them came with two strikes.
Out of all 15 hits on the night, Lowe’s hustle double in the second inning was the only extra-base hit.
“Just passing the baton to the next guy and trusting the guy behind you is going to get the job done and just making the most of the moment when it comes your way and just do your job,” Lowe said.
The Angels tagged on one last run in the seventh with three singles from Moisés Ballesteros, Guzman and Jose Siri.
When the dust settled, six out of the seven RBIs came from the six-through-nine hitters in the lineup.
“On the defensive side, we're always talking about dominating the bottom of the lineup before it gets to the top,” Suzuki said. “When we can find ways to manufacture runs at the bottom of the order to flip it to the top or already have done some damage, it's usually positive.”
On the mound, right-hander Walbert Ureña carved out another impressive outing to add to his stellar rookie season.
The heavy sinker baller tossed six shutout innings while allowing only two hits and two walks with five strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.67, which is the second-lowest ERA in baseball among rookies with at least 100 innings pitched.
“Incredible,” Lowe said of Ureña’s rookie campaign. “Every single time he's taking the mound, except for the last one in Miami, it's been lights out. With that stuff, that's how he should be at this point, how you expect him to be when he goes out there. For him to keep this streak going is kind of just a testament to who he is.”