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Rangers avoid sweep against Angels

Sun 31st, August 2008

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Marlon Byrd and Josh Hamilton both hit home runs to lead the Texas Rangers in a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Byrd ended with two RBI and Hamilton one for Texas, which avoided a sweep by salvaging the finale of this four-game set. Joaquin Arias drove in the other run for the Rangers. Kevin Millwood (9-7) won his third straight start by giving up two runs on five hits while fanning seven in 6 2/3 frames. Frank Francisco retired the final four batters to earn his second save.

"The story is Millwood," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He did a great job, he just ran out of gas in the sixth inning."

Juan Rivera had a two-run homer for the Angels, who, despite the loss, have still won six of their last nine. Mark Teixeira went 2-for-4 and drove in a run, while Brandon Wood ended 3-for-4 in defeat. John Lackey (11-3), who had won his last five decisions coming in, took the loss after yielding four runs on nine hits in just five frames.

"I felt OK, I'm just surprised Byrd's homer left the yard," Lackey said. "It was just one of those days."

Down 4-3, the Angels brought the tying run into scoring position in the ninth. Francisco got Gary Matthews to go down swinging for the first out in the ninth, but Wood managed a single. A wild pitch then sent Wood to second before pinch-hitter Mike Napoli went down swinging. On a first pitch slider, Sean Rodriguez tried to check his swing, but made contact on a slow roller towards first which served as the final out.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Hamilton crushed a two-out homer to center.

The club added two more runs in the second. Hank Blalock led off with a single and came around to score as Byrd followed with a blast to center.

The Angels made it 3-2 in the home half. Teixeira led off with a single and touched home as Rivera followed with his 10th homer of the year.

Byrd led off the visitor's fourth with a double. Nelson Cruz then struck out, but the third strike was dropped, making it first and third. Gerald Laird then hit into a fielder's choice, rendering Byrd out at home but leaving runners on first and second. Chris Davis drew a walk to load the bases and Arias made it 4-2 with an RBI single.

LA inched its way closer in the eighth inning. Reggie Willits worked a one-out walk off Jamey Wright and, two batters later, Garret Anderson made it first and third with a single. Teixeira then hit an RBI single to right field, making it a 4-3 affair.

Game Notes

Chone Figgins went 0-for-4, snapping his hit streak at 10 games...Angels manager Mike Scioscia was ejected in the fifth, Rangers manager Ron Washington was ejected in the seventh and Laird was ejected in the eighth. All three were tossed by home plate umpire Bill Hohn and all three had to do with arguing balls and strikes...LA center fielder Torii Hunter had the day off after hitting the back of his head on the wall in Saturday's game...Millwood had gone the distance in consecutive starts coming into Sunday's game...The last Rangers pitcher to throw three straight complete-game victories was Kenny Rogers back in 1994...Texas is 4-3 to close out a seven-game road trip and moved to 34-38 away from Arlington this season...Anaheim is 1 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the race for the AL's best record and home-field advantage for the playoffs...The Angels had won eight of their 12 matchups with the Rangers prior to Sunday's setback.