ARLINGTON, Texas — José Quijada had dominated left-handed hitters all season.
It turns out, though, that a fastball down the middle is not good against a lefty or a righty.
Quijada threw just such a pitch to Corey Seager, who drilled it over the fence in right-center for a tie-breaking two-run homer in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon.
It was just the sixth hit Quijada had allowed to a lefty all season. Lefties had been 5 for 45 against him before Seager’s homer.
It cost the Angels the series on a day that they had a 3-0 lead in the third. Michael Stefanic and Luis Rengifo had singled and Mike Trout drove in both with a double. Taylor Ward followed with an RBI single.
Michael Lorenzen was dominating through five innings. Lorenzen had given up just one run and one hit, facing just two hitters over the minimum. He’d struck out seven and walked one.
But he issued a leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Leody Tavares in the sixth, and then he gave up a single to Marcus Semien, ending his day.
Left-hander Aaron Loup entered to face Seager. He got Seager to ground into a force, but then Nathaniel Lowe punched a ball through the left side to drive in a run. Adolis Garcia then dropped a bloop single into right, tying the game.
Left fielder Jo Adell saved the Angels from further damage with a strong throw to nail Lowe at the plate after a single by Jonah Heim.
The whole sequence left Lorenzen with three runs on his line. After 16 starts, he has a 4.78 ERA, which is not quite what he or the Angels had hoped for when they agreed to a one-year deal last winter.
He has a 4.01 ERA if you discount the two starts he made with a shoulder issue before going on the injured list in July.
Lorenzen would like to return, so these last starts could be critical in shaping the Angels’ opinion of what he could do next year.
