Kumar Rocker delivered a breakout performance Thursday night, striking out a career-high eight batters over seven strong innings to notch his first major league win as the Texas Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-3, completing a three-game sweep.
The 25-year-old right-hander, selected third overall by Texas in the 2022 draft, allowed five hits and three runs without issuing a walk. He threw a personal-best 78 pitches in the longest outing of his MLB career, helping the Rangers extend their home winning streak to nine games. Rocker debuted late last season and had gone winless in his first five career starts.
Leody Taveras delivered a two-run double, while Adolis García launched his 15th career home run against the Angels. Corey Seager added his 100th homer in a Rangers uniform. Robert Garcia closed the game for his first big league save.
The Angels, who have dropped four straight, managed just four runs in the series. Their brutal travel-heavy schedule continues as they return home having played 15 of their first 18 games on the road — a rarity matched only by the 1957 Chicago Cubs.
Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (1-2) was tagged for four runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The win was also a milestone for Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who tied Dusty Baker for seventh place on MLB’s all-time managerial wins list with 2,183 victories.
Key Moment
Trailing 4-1 in the fifth, the Angels rallied for two runs with two outs and had runners on first and second. Mike Trout came to the plate with a chance to tie or take the lead, but he struck out on a check swing that first base umpire Lance Barrett called.
Key Stat
Rocker had received only three total runs of support over his first five career starts before finally earning a win on Thursday.
Up Next
The Angels head back to Anaheim, where Tyler Anderson (1-0, 2.87 ERA) will take the mound Friday against San Francisco’s Logan Webb (2-0, 2.63 ERA). The Rangers will send Jacob deGrom (0-0, 4.30 ERA) to face the Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-1, 1.23 ERA).
