Cody Bradford gave up one run in six innings and Adolis García hit a three-run home run in the first inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 3-1 on Thursday night.
Bradford (5-2) made his fifth consecutive quality and gave up just two hits, both singles by Zach Neto. He walked two, matching his high this season, and struck out four. In his previous four outings, the 26-year-old left-hander was 0-2 despite an ERA of 2.77 as he was provided seven runs of support.
“To be honest, today didn’t feel like a great rhythm,” said Bradford, whose velocity was down from his usual fastball of 90-91 mph. “Thank goodness for Adolis’ big swing in the first. You get an early lead, you can go right after guys.”
The Rangers (68-73) are 8-2 in their last 10 games, their best 10-game stretch this season. The defending World Series champions are within five games of .500 for the first time since Aug. 5.
Kirby Yates, the last of three Texas relievers, pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 27th save in 28 chances.
The Angels (58-82) extended their franchise-record streak of consecutive losing seasons to nine with the loss.
Neto had three of the Angels’ four hits, which were all singles.
“He has presence out there,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Bradford. “He changes speeds very well, and he knows when to put a little on that 88 mph fastball he throws.”
Their run scored in the third inning when Nolan Schanuel beat out a double-play grounder, which allowed Taylor Ward to break from third base and beat the throw home.
The Angels put on their first two runners in the seventh against José Leclerc. Charles Leblanc struck out, and Matt Thaiss pulled a sharp grounder down the first base line that Nathaniel Lowe turned into a double play with Leclerc barely getting to first base in time to cover for the third out.
García launched a 0-1 sinker into the home bullpen in right field for an opposite-field homer following singles by Marcus Semien and Josh Smith. The long ball snapped a 15-game homerless streak for García, who led the team last season with 39 homers and has 22 this year.
Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-4) shut out Texas on three hits over his final five innings after the three-run, five-hit outburst in the first.
“He grew tonight because he learned how to battle without his best stuff,” Washington said of Kochanowicz. “He was very impressive in the way he handled his innings.”
Texas’ Josh Jung had three singles, matching his career high for hits in a game.
Ward went 0 for 3 with a walk to snap a 14-game hitting streak, which was the second-longest active streak in the majors to the 15-game run by the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor.
Up next: Angels left-hander Samuel Aldegheri (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will start Friday night, and the Rangers didn’t name a starter before Thursday’s game. Aldegheri, the first major league pitcher born and reared in Italy, gave up seven runs in five innings in his big-league debut against Seattle last Friday, but only two were earned.