ARLINGTON -- Los Angeles more than survived this six-game road trip through Texas.
The Angels dropped the rubber match of a three-game set with the Rangers, 5-3. Still, they closed the road trip 3-3 and finished the season series against Texas with wins in eight of 13 games.
Los Angeles (52-79) returns home to start a series with Cleveland, looking to avoid the franchise’s first 100-loss season.
“The one thing that we do is prepare and play with energy, and they’re hungry for success,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said of his team. “That's the one thing that we can all be proud of as a group. Obviously, it would've been nice to win the series today, but we'll go home with this and keep building.”
The Angels showed some late-game spunk despite being down, 5-0, entering the eighth inning. Zach Neto hit a leadoff home run in the Angels’ three-run eighth, which included RBIs from Josh Lowe and Gustavo Campero.
Los Angeles made the Rangers sweat in the ninth, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs. Texas closer Jacob Latz, though, struck out Moisés Ballesteros to end the game.
The Angels collected 11 hits and had a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings but came up empty each time. Los Angeles left nine runners on base and finished 2-for-10 with RISP.
“The big hit eluded us,” Suzuki said. “That's how the game goes sometimes. But I thought the at-bats were good. We put up 11 hits and got the winning run to plate. The guys never gave up.”
Neto was a tough out, hitting .500 (14-for-28) during the six-game trip, with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, nine RBIs, five runs scored and two stolen bases. He posted a .500 on-base percentage, a .929 slugging percentage and a 1.429 OPS, led by a five-hit, seven-RBI showing on Thursday during the Halos' 18-3 rout in Houston.
“When he stays in the zone and really locks in the zone, I feel like he's one of the most dangerous hitters in the game,” Suzuki said.
Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi made his first start since April on Sunday, coming off the 60-day IL after dealing with left shoulder inflammation. He allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings, surrendering home runs to Ezequiel Duran and Elias Díaz to lead off the second and fifth innings, respectively.
He walked only one and struck out four.
“I thought the stuff was good today,” Suzuki said. “Velo was up. It just came down to execution with two strikes.”
Kikuchi had a tough act to follow.
Entering play Sunday, Angels starters had a 1.51 ERA over 65 2/3 innings since Aug. 11, including seven quality starts. On the current road trip, the rotation owned a 0.84 ERA over 32 innings.
The starters hadn’t allowed an earned run in six of the Halos' previous nine games.
“I'm glad to be back to The Show,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter. “I don't feel any pain after the start, so that's one thing that I wanted to achieve today. The results are the results. I have to go over it with the coaches, but overall, I'm just happy to be back with the team.”