ANAHEIM — After the Angels welcomed back a key piece of their team on Monday night and a large chunk of their payroll, the result looked just the same.
Other than a brief surge of offense in the second inning of the series opener, the Angels couldn’t keep up with the hot bats of the Texas Rangers and lost for the seventh time in their past eight games, 9-4, at Angel Stadium.
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon came off the injured list earlier Monday after missing 69 games with a partially torn left hamstring and the veteran third baseman went 1 for 4 in the leadoff spot with a seventh-inning RBI single.
The Angels figured to perform better against Texas starting pitcher Jon Gray, who came in with a 10.00 ERA in his past four outings, but other than the four-batter stretch in the second inning, the Angels (37-53) did little to press the Rangers.
Still, the Angels managed to score more than one run for just the second time in the past six games, but also surrendered five or more runs for the eighth time in the past nine.
Gray (4-4) allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings, striking out two and walking one. That was enough to help the Rangers (43-48) win their fourth in a row.
Angels starter Davis Daniel (1-2) took another step back in his third major-league start. The 27-year-old right-hander surrendered seven runs and eight hits in 3⅔ innings, striking out three without issuing a walk.
Daniel’s first seven pitches were strikes and 12 of 15 hit the zone in the first inning, but he got burned on a pair of 0-and-2 pitches.
Rangers leadoff hitter Marcus Semien quickly fell behind to start the game, but dropped a single into left field. Daniel then threw two strikes to Corey Seager before he blasted a 456-foot home run onto the batter’s eye in center for a 2-0 lead.
The home run was the second-longest of Seager’s major-league career behind the 464-foot shot he delivered as a member of the Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 26, 2021.
The Angels answered with four straight line-drive base hits in the second inning to move ahead 3-2.
Logan O’Hoppe started the rally with a one-out single to left, and Brandon Drury hit the first pitch up the middle for another single. Mickey Moniak then roped a line drive just inside the right field line for a two-run triple that tied it 2-2.
Jo Adell followed with an RBI single to left with the infield in to put the Angels in front 3-2.
The Rangers moved back ahead with five runs in the fourth.
Wyatt Langford grounded a double just inside the third base line and Adolis Garcia followed with a single to put runners on the corners.
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Daniel then stumbled as he was making a delivery to Nathaniel Lowe, resulting in a run-scoring balk that tied it 3-3. Lowe then singled up the middle to score Garcia for a 4-3 lead.
After a strikeout and hit batter, Leody Taveras dropped an RBI single into right field. Taveras stole second to put runners on second and third before Semien came through with a two-run single that stretched the lead to 7-3 and ended Daniel’s day.
Langford added a two-run homer in the seventh inning off Carson Fulmer to stretch the lead to 9-3.
Rendon’s RBI single up the middle trimmed the lead to 9-4, but the Angels left the bases loaded in the inning.
More to come on this story.