Nathan Eovaldi worked seven scoreless innings and rookie Dustin Harris went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to help the visiting Texas Rangers sweep their final series of the season with an 8-0 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.
Eovaldi (12-8) struck out five while yielding four hits for the Rangers (78-84), who won five of seven games to end the season.
Starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-6) gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings for the Angels (63-99), who dropped six in a row and nine of their final 10 games.
In the ninth inning, Harris sent a slider over the wall in right-center field for his first career home run to make the score 6-0. Josh Smith doubled to drive in Ezequiel Duran and Marcus Semien and push it to 8-0.
Nathaniel Lowe had put the Rangers ahead 5-0 in the eighth against reliever Guillo Zuniga. Wyatt Langford singled to open the inning and Lowe followed, knocking a two-run shot just inside the right foul pole.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Lowe led off with a double and scored when Jonah Heim singled to center field.
Harris’ first major league hit, in his second career game, extended the Rangers’ lead in the seventh. Leody Taveras singled and stole second with Travis Jankowski at the plate. After Jankowski drew a walk, Harris punched a double, driving in Taveras and Jankowski for a 3-0 advantage.
In the bottom half, Matt Thaiss hit a leadoff double and thought he scored on a single from Michael Stefanic but was tagged out at the plate. Los Angeles challenged, but the call stood after review.
The Angels had a chance to grab an early lead in the first. With one out, Jack Lopez reached on a throwing error by Smith, Eric Wagaman followed with a single and Kevin Pillar was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But Los Angeles couldn’t capitalize, with a strikeout and groundout ending the inning.
The hosts didn’t get much after that, managing just five baserunners the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
