ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels ended their seventh straight losing season at home by playing well, pitching enough and extending their longest winning streak in nearly five years.
Halo’s frustrations will continue into another winter, but they’re hoping this strong finale heralds better days in 2023.
Mike Trout hit his 39th homer with three hits, and the Angels finished with a season-best seventh straight win over the Texas Rangers 8-3 on Sunday. A home sweep.
“We played well … (but) obviously it wasn’t enough,” Trout said. “We’re not what we wanted, but the players are bowing their heads and we’re trying to finish strong.”
Shohei Ohtani extended the major league’s longest active batting streak to 17 with an opening single, matching his 17-game winning streak for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2016.
Rookies Livan Soto and Taylor Ward also had three hits for the Angels, who had an incredible eighth straight non-playoff season in Anaheim, sweeping six home games for the first time since July 2016. Halos has not won seven straight games since April 2018.
“I’m proud of their way,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said. “It’s almost like nobody wants it to be over now. We just want to keep playing. We have a great vibe right now. It feels good to get this done for our fans. We put on a great show this week. .”
If Philadelphia sticks to the playoffs, Los Angeles will have the longest active skate time in the majors in both categories, sharing a postseason drought with Detroit.
Corey Seager hit a two-run homer for the Rangers, who have lost five straight and are 11-of-14 from the field. Texas State swept its opponents in a three-game series at Angel Stadium for the first time since September 2018.
“He had a good pitching opportunity. Didn’t miss it,” Rangers interim manager Tony Beasley said. “He just missed the other right. It’s good for him to have some success. We need Corey Seager to do Corey Seager’s thing so we can be successful.”
Trout’s fourth-inning single-run homer was his 44th career homer against the Rangers, surpassing Reggie Jackson for the most since the team moved to Texas in 1972. The player with the most home runs on the team. The three-time AL MVP, who missed Saturday’s game after fouling the ball at his feet on Friday, has hit 15 home runs since coming off the injured list in August. 19.
Soto had a two-run double, David Fletcher added a two-run single, and the Angels sent 10 batters in a six-run first inning against Tyson Miller (1-2) . Soto and Fletcher followed after rookie receiver Logan O’Hoppe scored his first career RBI with a walk with base.
Jaime Barria (3-3) pitched 1 2/3 innings for Angels backup starter Tucker Davidson, and Jo Adell ran a single in the seventh.
Attendance
The Angels’ home final this season drew 26,041 fans, and the Big A drew 2,457,461 fans. That’s down from 3,023,010 fans in 2019, the most recent season before COVID-19 restrictions. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Angels had drawn at least 3 million fans for 17 straight seasons.
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Davidson pitched four solid innings, then stumbled in the fifth in Los Angeles. The southpaw has three hits, three runs and five walks in his seventh start for the Angels since acquiring him from Atlanta on Aug. 8. 2.
Miller bounced off his rough first and passed the ball with nine hits in four innings.
“It was a plus for him to be able to give us four innings today,” Beasley said. “I applaud him for being able to beat it.”
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Rangers: Martin Perez (12-7, 2.93 ERA) faces Aaron Judge and his 61 homers on Monday in the playoffs as the New York Yankees visit Texas for four games in three days Contest.
Angels: Patrick Sandoval (6-9, 3.03 ERA) made the final start of his impressively unfortunate season in Oakland on Monday, opening the Halo’s final series of the season.
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