Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Angels smack Rangers 11-3, Hamilton leaves early

(AP) ? Although the Texas Rangers are cruising toward another playoff berth, an embarrassing loss to a rival and a curious malady for slugger Josh Hamilton should remind the defending AL champions it's far too soon to get comfortable. Jered Weaver pitched seven innings of six-hit ball for his 100th win, Chris Iannetta had a two-run single and scored on a wild pitch during a crazy eight-run rally in the fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels moved up in the AL postseason race with an 11-3 victory Tuesday night. Mike Napoli and Ian Kinsler hit third-inning homers in the opener of the Rangers' penultimate road trip, but everything went askew in the fourth. Hamilton left with sinus trouble that affected his vision, and Ryan Dempster got chased from the shortest start of his Rangers tenure while the Angels sent 12 batters to the plate. Erick Aybar had three hits and scored two runs for the Angels (81-67), who moved within 3� games of wild card-leading Oakland with their 15th win in 20 games after the Athletics (84-63) lost at Detroit. Los Angeles trimmed its deficit behind the AL West-leading Rangers (87-60) to 6� games, but the Angels are much more focused on making a late wild-card push ? and with a few more innings like the fourth, they might have an outside shot. With eight Angels scoring a run, they had no trouble producing offense in the absence of Albert Pujols, who missed the game to be with his wife and their newborn daughter. Iannetta made contact with Scheppers' leg on his slide, leaving Scheppers on the ground in agony while Napoli's throw hit home plate umpire Jim Wolf, allowing Trout to score on a throwing error.

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