ARLINGTON, Texas — So much had gone right for the Angels through the first 37 games that they were bound to eventually hit a stretch when things didn’t work.
It happened this week in Texas, where the Angels lost, 6-5, to the Texas Rangers in 10 innings on Wednesday, getting swept in the three-game series.
It is the first time this season the Angels have lost three in a row. They reached the quarter-pole of the schedule with a 24-16 record.
They came up short in this one despite Jared Walsh’s game-tying two-run home run in the top of the ninth. Walsh’s second homer of the game merely delayed the disappointment.
The Angels pushed home their automatic runner in the top of the 10th to take a 5-4 lead, but they couldn’t get any insurance runs, despite having the top of the order due.
Raisel Iglesias, who had escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth to get the game to extra innings, then gave up a homer to Nathaniel Lowe on his first pitch of the bottom of the 10th.
The Angels ended up losing a game started by Shohei Ohtani, who gave up two runs in six innings.
Ohtani worked around trouble most of the night. The traffic on the bases pushed Ohtani to crank up his velocity, which certainly alleviated any fears from his previous outing.
Last week Ohtani allowed only one run in six innings, but he admitted afterward that he felt fatigued and didn’t have his best stuff. His velocity was down across the board, and his last fastball was 93.3 mph.
He had no such issues with his velocity this time around.
Ohtani threw eight pitches at 100 mph, the second-most he’s thrown in his career. He’d only thrown one 100-mph pitch in his first six starts. His average fastball was 98.6 mph, the hardest in any game of his career.
Ohtani had to crank it up in the first inning on Wednesday because he got into a quick jam, allowing a leadoff single and a one-out walk. He escaped that with a popout and a strikeout.
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In the fourth, he issued a walk, hit a batter and gave up an RBI single when Jonah Heim blooped an Ohtani 100-mph fastball into left field.
Heim got Ohtani again in the sixth with a bloop hit, this one driving in Kole Calhoun after he’d doubled, tying the score at 2-2.
Heim is now 5 for 5 against Ohtani, including a grand slam in April.
Ohtani left with the score still tied, but the Rangers took the lead when Mike Mayers gave up a homer to Brad Miller in the seventh. Jimmy Herget then allowed a homer to Calhoun in the eighth.
More to come on this story.