ANAHEIM -- Kolby Allard was cruising heading into the sixth inning Saturday night.

He gave up a home run to Juan Lagares in the third, but he was in control for much of the outing. Then he, like many, fell victim to Shohei Ohtani, who launched a Statcast-projected 426-foot, three-run homer in the sixth. Three batters later, Allard’s night was done, having allowed four runs (three earned) on two homers as the Rangers fell 4-1 to the Angels at Angel Stadium.

“Kolby, I thought, threw the ball really well,” said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. “The homer to Lagares was actually a decent pitch and he just got to it. In the sixth, with a runner on second [and first] and Ohtani up, we’re in trouble. He just couldn’t execute a pitch. I thought overall Kolby, before that, was executing all his pitches. He was throwing really well and cruising along. It’s unfortunate how the game turned out for him in that sixth inning.”

Allard admits that the pitch to Ohtani -- a first-pitch cutter that missed right down the middle -- was nowhere near his best. And a bad pitch against a guy like Ohtani, who leads the Majors in home runs, is likely to leave the yard.

The Orange County native has struggled with the long ball all season, though he says he’s not worried about it long term and knows he needs to limit them in the future. Allard has surrendered 25 homers in 111 2/3 innings (17 starts) this season. He has now allowed two home runs in five straight games, which is the first time a Rangers pitcher has allowed two or more in five straight appearances since Rick Helling from Sept. 1-22, 1999.

Woodward said all Allard needs to do through the last month of the season is finish strong. And while that sounds easy, Allard agreed that maintaining his pitch count and getting deeper into games will help in the long run.

“It's not a secret that I’ve given up a few too many home runs in the last few months or whatever,” Allard said. “I think it comes down to not leaving those balls in the middle, those bad pitches. I think it’s me going out there and trying to limit the damage. A lot of the runs I feel like I've been given up this year have come off the long ball. If we could do that a little bit, hopefully I’ll get a little bit more success.”

Along with the big fly, another common thread in many of Allard’s starts is a lack of run support.

Texas struggled to manufacture runs all night against Angels starter José Suarez. Woodward said Suarez's fastball command, combined with the arm speed on his changeup, made it difficult for hitters to get anything going. The offense put up five hits and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

The Rangers’ lone run came courtesy of Leody Taveras, who continued his recent hot streak with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Taveras hit a single to lead off the top of the ninth inning and was able to quickly round the bases -- via a wild pitch, Isiah Kiner-Falefa fly ball to center and an Adolis García RBI grounder -- to avoid the shutout.

“He obviously had our best at-bats all night against [Suarez],” Woodward said. “Three out of the four were really good.”