Angelblog

The Angels tallied 22 hits and touched home 15 times in a 15-13 win over the Rangers in the first game of the series.

The Angels knocked Rangers’ starter Matt Harrison out after three innings, tagging him for seven runs on nine hits. Torii Hunter gave the Angels a quick 3-0 lead in the first with a three-run blast. They added two more in the second before Morales and Napoli hitting back-to-back homeruns in the third, with Napoli ending 3 for 5 and missed the cycle by a single. The Angels then rallied for five runs in the fifth before topping off the scoring with a run in the seventh and eighth innings. Napoli, Morales, Aybar, Texeira, Hunter, Matthews, and Anderson all had multi-hit games, with Anderson going 4 for 6 with two runs and two RBI.

Garland didn’t fare much better than Harrison, being pulled in the third after recording to shutout innings. He came in to the third with a 7-0 lead and struck out the first batter, but was tagged for eight earned runs on ten hits and was pulled after giving up a three-run homerun that put the Rangers ahead. Darren Oliver then came in and escaped the inning and tossed the next two to get the win, the 100th of his career. Jepsen and Arrendondo combined for 3 1/3 before Scot Shields closed out the ninth for the save.

The Angels look to keep the offense going on Saturday, with Dustin Moseley taking the mound to face Vicente Padilla. Moseley is 0-1 with a 5.49 ERA in eight outings against the Rangers while Padilla is 13-7 but has just one win since July 25.