Rangers outclassed by Angels again

ARLINGTON, Texas - Interim manager Tim Bogar said the Texas Rangers would be going with their standard lineup Thursday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

That standard lineup, which is far from the standard one that was expected when the season began, featured five rookies against 14-game winner Matt Shoemaker and the team with the best record in baseball.

The lineup, plus a shaky bullpen, were no match for the Angels as Los Angeles cruised to an 8-1 victory over Texas.

The Rangers have been outclassed by the Angels in the first two games, getting outscored 17-4 but Bogar doesn't think his group is overmatched.

"It's just baseball," he said. "We don't have a choice who we play. That's just the way it goes. These guys are capable of beating anybody if we play well. We need to play better. We need to field better. We need to have better at-bats with runners in scoring position like I've said from the beginning. You can't have the bases loaded and not doing anything with it. You can't get guys on early and not execute. You can't come in out of the bullpen and not make pitches."

Bogar's assessment was a checklist of woes that once again infected Texas Thursday.

The bullpen couldn't keep the game close after Nick Tepesch allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Angels scored five runs over the final three innings. While they ended up being tack-on runs at the time, they could have been more important if the Rangers could have come through with a clutch hit. But the new standard lineup couldn't do that Thursday as Texas rolled to its 91st loss of the season.