David Freese hit a go-ahead homer, Garrett Richards pitched seven effective innings for his first win since injuring his knee last year, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 3-2 Friday night.
Richards (1-1) allowed two runs and three hits, struck out five and walked three in his fifth straight win over the Rangers. The victory was the right-hander's first since Aug. 15 last season, when he beat the Rangers 5-4 in Texas. He sustained a season-ending knee injury five days later while covering first base at Boston.
Joe Smith pitched a perfect eighth and Huston Street worked a hitless ninth for his sixth save. Street walked two, but ended the game by retiring Elvis Andrus on a grounder with runners at the corners.
Kole Calhoun greeted rookie reliever Keone Kela (0-1) with a leadoff single and was erased on a fielder's choice grounder by Mike Trout, who stole second and was nearly doubled off the bag after Kela caught Albert Pujols' liner and tried to complete what would have been an inning-ending double play. Freeze then drove a 3-2 pitch to left-center for his fourth homer.
Wandy Rodriguez allowed a run and five hits over five innings and struck out five in his American League debut after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock. It was the 36-year-old left-hander's first appearance and start in the majors since May 21, 2014, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who designated him for assignment last May and released him shortly thereafter.
Right-hander Logan Verrett was designated for assignment to make room for Rodriguez, who signed with Atlanta in January and was released at the end of spring training before the Rangers signed the 11-year veteran to a minor league deal. Rodriguez spent his first seven-plus seasons in the majors with Houston before the Astros shifted to the AL in 2013.
Richards walked the Rangers' eighth and ninth hitters, Jake Smolinski and Carlos Corporan, to open the third inning and both scored after Leonys Martin advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Mitch Moreland delivered the first run with a groundout, and Prince Fielder singled off Richards' glove to bring home the other.
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The Angels got on the board in the fourth with Chris Iannetta's sacrifice fly. They nearly tied it in the fifth, but center fielder Martin raced toward the warning track and made a leaping catch to rob Pujols of extra bases with the speedy Trout at first base.
HAMILTON HUB-BUB
Most of the pregame chatter in both clubhouses revolved around troubled outfielder John Hamilton's expected trade from the Angels to the Rangers. During the two seasons that Hamilton and 3B Adrian Beltre were Rangers teammates (2011-12), Hamilton had 68 homers, 222 RBIs and a .291 average while Beltre batted .310 with 68 homers and 207 RBIs.
"If it does happen and he becomes a teammate, we're going to support him no matter what," said Beltre, who joined the Rangers the year after Hamilton was the AL MVP. "We'll do our best to help him think about baseball and not be a distraction. We know Josh and who he is. We hope he's healthy, his mind is in a good position, and he has the support he needs to be the productive Josh that we all know he can be -- the Josh that helped us go to the World Series in 2011. Who doesn't need a guy like Josh Hamilton? There might be a little more media craziness or more questions about why he's here, but we'll deal with it."
UP NEXT
Rangers: RHP Colby Lewis will be starting on six days' rest for the second straight time, after losing 3-1 to Seattle's Felix Hernandez last Saturday. Lewis was 1-4 with a 9.35 ERA against the Angels last season.
Angels: LHP C.J. Wilson was pushed back two days because of elbow stiffness. He allowed eight runs in 12 1-3 innings over his last two starts -- losses to Kansas City and Houston -- after pitching eight innings of two-hit ball in his season debut at Seattle. Wilson spent his first seven big league seasons with the Rangers.
