Nathaniel Lowe was hit by a pitch from Carson Fulmer with the bases loaded in the 13th inning, bringing home the winning run as the Texas Rangers edged past the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Saturday night.
Lowe tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. Adolis García hit a home run in the sixth for the Rangers (24-23), who won for the third time in 10 games. Since Bruce Bochy took over as manager before last season, the defending World Series champions have never been below .500.
“It was a tough win,” Bochy said. “Exciting, with all the action happening. It’s good to get a win, although it would have been nicer if it was a bit easier.”
Taylor Ward and Jo Adell hit home runs for the Angels, who struggled to capitalize with runners in scoring position, going 0 for 18 — including 0 for 10 in extra innings. They left 11 runners on base.
Fulmer (0-2) allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Ezequiel Duran in the 13th inning, advancing automatic runner Travis Jankowksi from second base to third.
Marcus Semien lined out to third, and the Angels chose to intentionally walk Corey Seager to load the bases. This set the stage for Lowe, who was hit by Fulmer’s next pitch.
Despite being in a 0-for-13 slump, Lowe remained composed. “Considering my recent performance this past week, I was just there,” he said. “I’m going through a bit of a slow period, but I was in the right place at the right time at the end.”
The last time Texas won a game with a walk-off hit by pitch was in August 2016, when Rougned Odor was hit by a pitch from Oakland reliever Marc Rzepcynski in the 10th inning.
Angels manager Ron Washington had no regrets about intentionally walking Seager to load the bases, describing it as a “very easy” decision.
