Arlington, Texas: Garrett Richards allowed five hits over seven innings to extend his personal winning streak to seven decisions as the Los Angeles Angels handed the Texas Rangers their sixth consecutive loss, 3-0 on Friday night. Mike Trout provided Richards all the run support he needed with a solo home run in the fourth inning, his 22nd of the season.
Richards (11-2) is unbeaten with a 1.27 ERA in his last eight starts. Albert Pujols and Erick Aybar had two hits each for Los Angeles, and Alex Rios had two for Texas.
Texas right-hander Nick Tepesch (3-5) retired the first 10 batters he faced before Trout sent a 1-0 sinker 418 feet to centrefield for the game’s first run. Tepesch allowed two runs in the seventh.
The Rangers left eight men on base, including runners in scoring position in six innings.
Felix Hernandez outpitched Jeff Samardzija and Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead double to propel Seattle past Oakland.
Fernando Rodney got his 27th save, getting Nick Punto on a called strike three to end it with a runner on third. Punto slammed his batting helmet to the ground with both hands and argued with plate umpire James Hoye, and A’s manager Bob Melvin joined in, saying the full-count pitch missed the strike zone.
Hernandez (11-2) threw eight strong innings. He reached 11 victories before the All-Star break for the first time in his career, getting nicked for two early runs and then shutting down the AL West-leading A’s the rest of the night.
Hernandez made his 11th straight start going at least seven innings and giving up two earned runs or less. It’s the longest streak for an American League pitcher since Gaylord Perry had 11 straight for Cleveland in 1974.
