STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Angels ace Jered Weaver noticed that there was no signal to the bullpen when manager Mike Scioscia was walking toward him in the seventh inning.
“Usually, he kind of makes the call about halfway out to the mound, and didn’t do it this time, and I felt like he wanted to see how I was feeling,” Weaver said. “It was nice to be able to get those last two outs.”
Weaver pitched seven strong innings for his 10th win, five days after going only two innings his previous start because of tightness in his lower back, and the Angels sent the Texas Rangers to their seventh straight loss, 5-2 on Saturday night.
Howie Kendrick celebrated his 31st birthday with three hits, including an RBI single during a four-run sixth inning as the Angels won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Weaver (10-6) limited the Rangers to two runs and four hits. The right-hander struck out three and walked three. There was a runner on first with an out in the seventh when Scioscia popped out of the dugout.
“I just wanted to see how Weave felt, and Weave was adamant he felt good and talked me into having him stay in the game,” Scioscia said.
Angels left fielder Collin Cowgill left the game with blood gushing from the bridge of his nose after he was struck in the face by a pitch when he squared to bunt in the eighth. He immediately put his hand over his face and started walking toward the dugout.
The Angels said he was alert and got stitches before being taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
“It was obviously an unfortunate turn of events there,” Scioscia said. “He’s going to obviously go for some tests.”
The pitch by Matt West went over the bat and appeared to hit Cowgill flush on the face. It wasn’t clear if the ball tipped off the bat before hitting Cowgill. Efren Navarro finished the at-bat and drew a walk.
The Rangers have dropped 21 of 24. They have the worst winning percentage in the majors, .404 with their 38-56 record.
“I think we had seven chances to drive in a run. We didn’t do it besides the two we got,” manager Ron Washington said. “We just haven’t mustered any offense the past two days.”
Kendrick’s third single tied it at 2 in the sixth, when the Angels chased Texas starter Miles Mikolas (0-2).
David Freese hit a go-ahead single in the sixth. Hank Conger then had a two-run double.
Joe Smith got his 14th save with a perfect ninth. It was his ninth consecutive appearance of at least an inning without allowing a hit.
Mikolas allowed five runs over 5 2-3 innings in his third career start. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.
Texas led 2-0 in the second after Carlos Pena had a one-out double and Robinson Chirinos was hit by a pitch. No. 9 batter Rougned Odor hit an RBI double before Chirinos came home on a groundout by Shin-Soo Choo.
Conger reached on an error by Pena at first base to start the third. Conger scored on a sacrifice fly by Albert Pujols with the bases loaded, with rookie left fielder Jake Smolinski making a diving catch fully extended in the left-center field gap to prevent more runs from scoring.
That was an inning after Smolinski made a diving backhanded catch to take a hit away from Josh Hamilton.
“The game situation at the time was close,” Smolinski said. “It felt like momentum was going our direction at the time.”
NOTES: Kendrick was in an 0-for-10 slide before his single in the second. … Eric Nadel, who will be honored at baseball’s Hall of Fame in two weeks for winning the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting, was recognized in a pregame ceremony. This is Nadel’s 20th year as the lead voice on Rangers radio broadcasts, and his 36th with the team. He was joined on the field by the broadcasters from the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars and presented a crystal microphone.
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