Cody Bradford allowed one run in six innings and Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer in the first inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Angels. 3-1 Thursday night.
Bradford (5-2) pitched his fifth straight shutout and allowed just two hits, both singles to Zach Neto. He walked two, matching his season high, and struck out four. In his previous four starts, the 26-year-old left-hander was 0-2 despite a 2.77 ERA and allowed seven runs.
The Rangers (68-73) are 8-2 in their last 10 games, their best 10 of the season. The World Series champions are five games from .500 for the first time since Aug. 5.
Kirby Yates, the last of Texas’ three relievers, pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 27th save in 28 innings.
The Angels (58-82) extended their franchise losing streak to nine with the defeat.
Neto had three of the Angels’ four hits, all singles.
His run came in the third inning when Nolan Shanuel overcame a ground ball double that allowed Taylor Ward to cross third base and beat the throw.
The Angels put their first two runners on in the seventh against Jose LeClair. Charles LeBlanc struck out and Matt Theis hit a fastball down the first-base line that Nathaniel Lowe turned into a double play and Leclerc barely made it to first base before popping out to third.
Garcia launched an 0-1 shot to right field for an opposite-field homer after singles by Marcus Semien and Josh Smith cleared the plate. The long shot snapped a 15-game hitting streak for Garcia, who led the team with 39 homers last season and has 22 this year.
Angels starter Jack Kochanovich (2-4) blanked Texas on three hits in his final five innings after a three-run, five-hit outburst in the first.
Texas’ Josh Jung had three singles, tying his career high for hits in a game.
Ward went 0-for-3 with a walk to snap a 14-game hitting streak, the second-longest active hitting streak in the majors behind the 15-game streak of the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor.
In the future: Angels left-hander Samuel Aldegueri (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will start Friday night, and the Rangers have not named a starter ahead of Thursday’s game. Aldegheri, the first major league pitcher born and raised in Italy, allowed seven runs in five innings in his major league debut against Seattle last Friday, but only two earned runs.
