Angels fall to Rangers, slip from playoff position

ANAHEIM >> It took three men to extract a pigeon from the Angel Stadium baseball diamond Monday. Texas Rangers first baseman Mike Napoli cornered the clumsy bird, which had spent a half-inning meandering around the right side of the infield, between himself and first base umpire Gary Cederstrom. Cederstrom then chased the pigeon slowly from fair territory toward the first-base dugout. Rangers manager Jeff Banister finally emerged, picked up the pigeon with his bare hands, and carried it back with him to the dugout, never to be seen again.

It took one future Hall of Famer to beat the Angels.

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre homered against Tyler Skaggs and drove in four runs in the Angels’ 5-3 loss. Tied 1-1 after two innings, Beltre hit a three-run home run as part of a four-run Ranger rally before the announced crowd of 35,204 at Angel Stadium.

The Angels moved into the American League’s second wild-card berth Aug. 12 and held at least a share of baseball’s most precarious playoff position until Monday, when the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox split a doubleheader. The Twins’ 64-60 record affords them a half-game lead over the Angels, who fell to 64-61.

Eight teams are within five games of each other in the standings for the final AL playoff berth. The Angels are second in the pecking order.

An RBI groundout by Beltre gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Skaggs labored early, hitting leadoff man Delino DeShields Jr. in the toes with a curveball. The Rangers used a single and a passed ball to set up Beltre’s RBI, and forced Skaggs throw 20 pitches in the inning.

The second inning passed quickly. Skaggs (1-4) retired the side in order on eight pitches. In the bottom of the inning, the Angels got their first run on an RBI single by Martin Maldonado that scored C.J. Cron.

Skaggs’ arm went cold again in the third inning. Shin-Soo Choo clubbed a double off the top of the wall in left-center, just beyond the reach of a leaping Cameron Maybin. That scored DeShields from second base with the Rangers’ second run.

After Skaggs hit Elvis Andrus in the forearm with a fastball, he threw a 1-1 fastball down the middle of the plate to Beltre, who was sitting on 458 career home runs. Number 459 sailed 399 feet to the grassy berm in left-center field, and it tied Miguel Cabrera for 37th place on baseball’s career home run list.

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Skaggs allowed only one other runner to reach base before he was removed with one out in the sixth inning. He allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits, walking one batter and striking out four.

In his ninth start of the season, Skaggs’ margin for error was thin. The Angels began the day with a .659 on-base plus slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers, 29th out of 30 MLB teams. Monday they were facing Cole Hamels (9-1), one of the best left-handed pitchers in the American League.

Hamels allowed only three hits in seven innings, walking two batters and striking out three. The Angels tacked on another run in the sixth inning on an RBI groundout by Cron.

In three starts against the Angels this season, Hamels has pitched 21 ⅔ innings and allowed three runs. His ERA against them is 1.25. His ERA against all other teams this year is 4.09.

Skaggs spent the weekend in Southern California on the bereavement list. While the Angels wrapped up a 7-2 road trip in Baltimore, Skaggs mourned the death of his grandfather. He rejoined the team Monday and JC Ramirez was placed on the disabled list in a corresponding roster move.

Maldonado had two hits. His single in the ninth inning against Rangers closer Alex Claudio gave the Angels runners on first and second base with none out. Both runners moved up a base on a groundout by Maybin.

With first base open, the Rangers elected to pitch to Mike Trout, who delivered an RBI single to right field. Claudio came back to retire Albert Pujols on a routine groundout, ending the game.