The Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels meet in the second game of a three-game series Saturday in Anaheim, with first pitch from Angel Stadium scheduled for 10:05 p.m. ET. Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is scheduled to start for Texas against Walbert Urena for the Angels.
The matchup arrives with the Rangers 24-26 and the Angels 18-34 after a wild series opener Friday that the Angels won 9-6. Jason deGrom allowed four runs in the first inning and six runs in three innings before leaving Friday’s game, while the Rangers collected 11 hits and got homers from Brandon Nimmo and Danny Jansen. The los angeles angels ended a three-game losing streak with the victory; Zach Neto hit two home runs in that game and reached 10 homers for the season as the Angels totaled 13 hits.
Friday's win also produced a first victory of the year for Grayson Rodriguez, who went 5 2/3 innings, allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks, and struck out five. The result was part of a jagged recent stretch for both clubs: the Rangers were 7-5 in their last 12 games coming into Saturday, while the Angels were 2-9 over their last 11.
Context matters here: this is the second game of three in Anaheim and the Angels have rarely followed up a win with another victory this season. They have not won consecutive games since May 5-6, and before that their last back-to-back wins came April 16-17. The Rangers are being watched in the market as well — they were 5-10 against the spread as road favorites, according to Teamrankings.com — a reminder that bettors have seen Texas struggle to cover even when favored away from home.
That backdrop creates a clear tension around tonight's pitching matchup. Eovaldi arrives with a 5-4 record, a 3.62 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, with 2.0 walks per nine and 9.1 strikeouts per nine through 54 2/3 innings. He was making his 10th start; four of the Rangers' five wins when Eovaldi pitches have been by multiple runs. On the other side, Urena was 1-4 with a 2.70 ERA, making his seventh start and ninth appearance, compiling a 1.35 WHIP, 5.1 BB/9 and 8.1 K/9 through 33 1/3 innings.
The numbers push and pull. Eovaldi’s peripherals look solid, but six of his nine starts had game totals of eight or more runs. The Rangers’ recent slate has produced high-scoring affairs, too: their last five games and seven of their last nine had totals of eight or more. The Angels are fragile in one sense — eight of their last 10 losses came by multiple runs — yet Friday’s 13-hit outburst and Neto’s two-homer night show they can explode offensively on any given night.
That contradiction is the story’s friction: a Rangers staff led by a veteran starter who tends to be involved in high-total games versus an Angels lineup that has struggled to string wins together but still manages violent outbursts. If Eovaldi can limit damage and keep the game under control, the Rangers’ track record in his wins suggests Texas can push across enough runs to take the series. If not, the Angels have shown the capacity to pile up hits and change the tone of a short homestand quickly.
The most consequential question entering tonight is simple and immediate: can Nathan Eovaldi keep the runs down against a los angeles angels offense that erupted for 13 hits Friday — because how he answers that will decide whether the Rangers can seize control of this series in Anaheim.
