Rangers outlast Angels 3-2 in 13 innings when Lowe gets hit by pitch

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe was hit by a pitch from Carson Fulmer with the bases loaded in the 13th inning, forcing home the winning run as the Texas Rangers outlasted the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Saturday night.

Lowe tied the score with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Adolis García homered in the sixth for the Rangers (24-23), who won for the third time in 10 games. The defending World Series champions have never been under .500 since Bruce Bochy took over as manager before last season.

“It was a hard-fought win,” Bochy said. “Entertaining, the things that were happening. It’s good to get a win, but you’d like to do it a little bit easier.”

Taylor Ward and Jo Adell homered for the Angels, who went 0 for 18 with runners in scoring position — including 0 for 10 in extra innings. They left 11 on base overall.

Fulmer (0-2) gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Ezequiel Duran in the 13th, sending automatic runner Travis Jankowksi from second base to third. Marcus Semien lined out to third, and the Angels intentionally walked Corey Seager to load the bases. That brought up Lowe, who was plunked by Fulmer’s next pitch.

In an 0-for-13 slump, Lowe took the moment in stride.

“Based on my recent success this last week, I was just kind of in the way,” he said. “I’m just kind of having a pretty slow stretch, but I was in the way at the right time at the end.”

The previous time Texas earned a walk-off win on a hit by pitch was August 2016, when Rougned Odor was plunked by Oakland reliever Marc Rzepcynski in the 10th.

Angels manager Ron Washington had no regrets about loading the bases by walking Seager, calling it a “very easy” decision.

“The winning run was at third base,” Washington said. “I wasn’t going to let Seager beat me.”

Washington was more frustrated by the Angels’ performance at the plate with runners in scoring position.

“We certainly put ourselves in position to have opportunities and we just didn’t get it done,” he said. “It’s tough when you go that far and have that many opportunities and you just don’t cash them in.”

Yerry Rodríguez (1-0) pitched two hitless innings for his first major league win. David Robertson kept the Angels scoreless in the 10th and 11th.

Texas trailed 2-1 in the eighth before Semien drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on Seager’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lowe.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker, the third overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft, threw a bullpen that came four days before the one-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery. The team wanted to get a biomechanical update on Rocker via the motion capture system available on the game mound.

UP NEXT

RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-2, 3.75 ERA), who made 18 starts for the Angels in 2022, pitches Sunday for Texas against RHP Jose Soriano (1-4, 3.72) in the series finale.

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Texas Rangers Robbie Grossman (4) celebrates the home run by Adolis Garcia, right, against the Los Angeles Angels in the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval (43) delivers against the against the Texas Rangers in the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Los Angeles Angels Taylor Ward (3) celebrates in the dugout after a solo home run against the Texas Rangers in the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Third base umpire Adrian Johnson and Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington (37) have words in the 13th inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Texas Rangers Nathaniel Lowe (30) celebrates their win against the Los Angeles Angels with Josh Smith (8) after Lowe was hit by a pitch to score Travis Jankowski with bases loaded in the 13th inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Texas Rangers' Josh Smith (8) is tagged out at the plate by Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe (14) in the tenth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jose Urena delivers against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Texas Rangers' Corey Seager hits a single against the Los Angeles Angels in the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

CHICAGO (AP) — Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes combined on a four-hitter, and the New York Yankees clinched their 32nd straight winning season by blanking the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Saturday.

Schmidt pitched 4 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in his first big league game since May 26. Cortes (9-10) closed it out in his first relief appearance since 2021.

Coupled with Baltimore's 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay, New York moved back into first in the AL East. The Yankees (82-60) lead the Orioles by a half-game.

Cortes admitted he was upset when he learned he was going to pitch in relief.

“I’m never going to back down from a challenge,” Cortes said. “I’m never going to leave my teammates out to dry. You’re always going to get my best effort no matter if I’m happy or not. That’s what I did today. I came out there and proved I can be put in any situation. From here on out, if that’s my role, I’ll accept it.”

Schmidt had been sidelined by a right lat strain. He threw 75 pitches, 44 for strikes.

"I felt like I still had a lot of strength and I wasn’t fatiguing at all,” Schmidt said.

New York posted its second straight shutout to secure its first series win since it took two of three against Colorado from Aug. 23-25. The 32 straight seasons with a winning record is the second-longest such period in major league history, trailing a run of 39 consecutive seasons for the Yankees from 1926-64.

Chicago (72-70) has lost four of five on a crucial homestand as it tries to rally in the race for the third NL wild card. It beat Pittsburgh 12-0 on Wednesday, but it has managed a total of three other runs in its last five games, getting shut out three times.

“We feel like we have a good enough ballclub to be in the playoffs and in the picture, but we’re going to have to play a little bit better and keep pushing here,” left fielder Ian Happ said.

Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (7-5) allowed one earned run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings.

New York scored its first run when Austin Wells drove in Gleyber Torres with a groundout in the first. The Yankees made it 2-0 in the sixth when Aaron Judge swiped third as part of a double steal and scampered home on catcher Christian Bethancourt’s throwing error.

Judge, who leads the majors with 51 homers, went 0 for 3 with a walk. He hasn’t homered in 11 games in his longest streak of the season.

The Cubs had their best scoring opportunity in the fifth. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled with one out, but was caught stealing. Patrick Wisdom then tripled to right, but he was stranded when Cortes got Bethancourt to foul out.

“He handled it really well, came into a high-leverage situation with a runner on third and got the job done,” Wells said of Cortes. “From there, cruised.”

Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo heard more cheers in his second game back at Wrigley Field since he was traded by Chicago to New York in July 2021. He tipped his cap before his first at-bat and reached second on Crow-Armstrong’s dropped catch in center.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Schmidt and RHP Ian Hamilton (right lat strain) were reinstated from the 60-day injured list before the game. RHPs Phil Bickford and Nick Burdi were designated for assignment.

Cubs: LHP Justin Steele (left elbow tendinitis) was scheduled to play catch Saturday. He went on the 15-day IL on Wednesday. ... RHP Hayden Wesneski (right forearm strain) threw an inning at Triple-A Iowa.

UP NEXT

RHP Gerrit Cole (6-3, 3.65 ERA) is slated to start for New York on Sunday on his 34th birthday. RHP Jameson Taillon (9-8, 3.66 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago in the finale of the weekend set. Taillon went 22-11 with a 4.08 ERA with the Yankees in 2021 and 2022.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt reacts in the dugout after being pulled during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, right, celebrates with teammate Gleyber Torres (25) after Torres scored on an Austin Wells ground out during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Cubs starter Javier Assad delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a throwing error by the catcher during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)