Cron's six RBIs, Santiago's gem spark rout
ARLINGTON -- Angels left-hander Hector Santiago continued his dominance of the Rangers in their own ballpark with seven scoreless innings in a 13-0 victory before a sellout crowd on Saturday night.
Designated hitter C.J. Cron led the offense, going 3-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs. The Angels have won two straight over the Rangers, outscoring them 21-2 in the first two of a three-game series.
"[Cron is] a good offensive player, and he really has not gotten his feet on the ground for us this year," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Maybe a game like this will give him a little bit of confidence."
Santiago allowed three hits and a walk, while striking out three. He is now 5-0 with a 1.64 ERA in six starts and two relief appearances against the Rangers in Arlington. He has been much better than Wandy Rodriguez in Arlington. Rodriguez gave up five runs in five innings and is now 0-4 with a 7.42 ERA in six starts at home this season.
• Wandy's struggles at home continue
"I think I like pitching here," Santiago said. "Their lineup is a really good lineup, so pitching against a lineup like that -- I feel like it makes you get better. It makes you bear down and you don't make as many mistakes."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Calhoun keeps crushing: Kole Calhoun's fourth-inning home run added to the Angels' strong start and continued his demolition of the Rangers. Calhoun was 2-for-5 with four RBIs on Friday, and had a base hit and sacrifice fly in addition to his solo homer Saturday. Calhoun is a career .313 hitter against the Rangers and has seven home runs in 37 games against the club.
Video: LAA@TEX: Calhoun drills solo shot to extend the lead
Cron has career night: Cron had a career-high six RBIs, and his sixth-inning three-run home run was the impetus behind the Angels' six-run frame. Cron, who was a triple shy of the cycle, also had an RBI single in the second inning that helped the Halos spark their offense early for the second night in a row. More >
Video: LAA@TEX: Cron on knocking in six RBIs in win
Patton gives up five: One day after the Rangers designated Neftali Feliz for assignment, right-handed reliever Spencer Patton gave up five runs in the sixth inning while retiring only two batters. Ross Detwiler had to take over to get the Rangers out of the inning.
Video: LAA@TEX: Angels score six runs in the 6th
"He didn't throw strikes," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "When you get right down to it, we didn't throw strikes. In this league you have to get ahead of hitters, throw strokes and get the hitters on the defensive."
Moreland's bullet ends rally: The Rangers had a chance to strike early and get a lead against Santiago. Rougned Odor singled to lead off the first inning and Adrian Beltre drew a two-out walk. Mitch Moreland then smacked a hard one-hop grounder, but right at second baseman Johnny Giavotella to end the threat.
"We haven't swung the bats as well as we'd like," Banister said. "We made some hard outs early but we haven't scored many runs."
QUOTABLE
"I want to say no, but yeah. … Today I definitely thought I could put myself in a good situation and put some pressure on them." -- Santiago on whether he thought about the possibility of being an All-StarMore >
Video: LAA@TEX: Santiago twirls seven scoreless frames
"We haven't played the way we want to in the first two games. Is that going to be a deciding factor going forward? No way. But we've got to be better." -- Banister on the series so far
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Rangers have been shut out five times this season, but this was the first in Arlington.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
The Rangers lost a review challenge on Albert Pujols' two-run double in the sixth inning. Pujols slid around the tag of second baseman Odor. The Rangers appealed on the basis that Pujols may have momentarily disengaged the bag after touching it the first time while Odor still had his glove on him. But a review ruled that the safe call would stand.
Video: LAA@TEX: Pujols' two-run double stands after review
WHAT'S NEXT
Angels: C.J. Wilson is on the mound against his former team as the Angels play the Rangers on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. PT. Wilson is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA against Texas. That ERA is the seventh-highest by any opposing pitcher with at least eight starts against the Rangers.
Home team: Colby Lewis will take on the Angels in the series finale. Lewis is 4-0 with a 3.29 ERA in his last six starts and 3-0 with a 3.57 ERA in seven starts at home.
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