2-4 - Under TAG’s watchful eye, Rangers annihilate Angels 10-5

The Texas Rangers scored ten runs while the Anaheim Angels scored five runs.

It’s a Tom Grieve series so the Rangers went out and blasted the hated Angels and their battalion of MVPs, natch.

Surviving Mike Trout. Thriving against Shohei Ohtani. Even while reviving the Dane Dunning first inning narrative.

This was the kind of game that made sweating through an offseason of unrest worth it.

Player of the Game: No big leaguer had ever homered off Ohtani’s legendary splitter. The league’s line off the pitch last season? .085/.137/.101. In fact, an 0-2 splitter from Ohtani might as well have been the most certain thing in sports. Opponents were 0-for-58 with 41 Ks on 0-2 against the AL MVP’s elite strikeout offering.

Jonah Heim had never hit a grand slam in the majors. Ohtani certainly hadn’t given up one.

So, of course...

In addition to the game-altering grand slam, the Rangers’ backup backstop went 3-for-4 overall with three runs scored and five RBIs out of the ninth spot in the lineup.

Up Next: With Spencer Howard hitting the IL, the Rangers will turn to the bullpen to get them through the second game of this series opposite LHP Reid Detmers for the Angels.

Friday night’s first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT.