ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Needing a seventh-inning home run on Saturday night to complete his second career cycle, Carlos Gomez of the Texas Rangers was looking fastball all the way. He wasn’t disappointed.
Gomez sent Jose Valdez’s first-pitch heater onto the hill beyond center field. That followed a first-inning double, a single in the third and a triple to the gap in right-center in the fifth that sailed just beyond the reach of a sprinting Mike Trout. Two-run homers by Gomez and Rougned Odor backed the performance of Yu Darvish, who threw 125 pitches in six innings, as the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3.
“It’s exciting up there if you do that,” Gomez said, “and you can enjoy it when you win.”
His previous cycle came with the Minnesota Twins on May 7, 2008.
Texas’ win snapped the Angels’ five-game winning streak.
On a blustery night at Globe Life Park, Trout thought he had a shot at Gomez’s triple.
“The wind was crazy,” said Trout, who went 2 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. “I couldn’t even tell you what direction it was blowing.”
Darvish (3-2) allowed one earned run, three hits and four walks while striking out 10, tying the season high that he set against the Angels on April 13. He fell five pitches short of his major league high, thrown as a rookie in 2013.
Darvish had thrown 97 pitches through five innings and finished the sixth despite leaving the bases loaded following three walks.
“They let me, so that was great,” he said through an interpreter.
“He’s our ace,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “He’s got to be able to pitch out of situations like that.”
Darvish didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, when he gave up an opposite field single to Kole Calhoun, an RBI double to Trout and a sacrifice fly to Albert Pujols.
Jesse Chavez (2-4) gave up four runs, eight hits and two walks in six innings. Twice, he came within one strike of getting out of Texas’ four-run fifth inning unscathed.
“When I get hurt, it’s good location, wrong time,” Chavez said.
Odor’s two-out homer in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie. It was his fourth of the season, his first since the first four games of the season.
Play was halted briefly in the second inning when a bad-hop single by Shin-Soo Choo struck Angels second baseman Danny Espinosa in the forehead. Espinosa stayed in the game.
DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
Pujols was agitated in the top of the fourth after a fastball from Darvish sent him reeling, exchanging words and pointing at Rangers pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez in the home dugout.
Gonzalez “was popping off like he wanted to come out of the dugout,” Pujols said. “I mean, I didn’t appreciate that. That’s why I was yelling at him.
“I wasn’t yelling at Yu Darvish. In that situation, I know you don’t want to try to hit. . The ball got away from him.”
SHORT HOPS
Pujols’ RBI ties him with Ted Williams and Al Simmons for 12th place on the career list with 1,839. … Delino DeShields started against a right-hander for the first time this season and went 0 for 3 with a walk. . Texas used its 19th batting order in 24 games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: 1B C.J. Cron (left foot contusion) and LHP Tyler Skaggs (right oblique strain) were placed on the 10-day DL on Saturday. RHP Daniel Wright was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, and Valdez was selected to the major league roster. To make room for Valdez, LHP Greg Mahle was designated for assignment.
Rangers: RHP A.J. Griffin (gout in left ankle) is scheduled to pitch again Wednesday, but Banister hasn’t decided if Griffin will return to the rotation then or make another rehab start for Triple-A Round Rock.
UP NEXT
Angels: JC Ramirez (2-2) is 0-2 with a 4.16 ERA since moving into the rotation two weeks ago.
Rangers: Martin Perez (1-3) hasn’t pitched beyond six innings in any of his five starts and hasn’t won since April 9.
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