ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The first pitch of Tuesday night's game was still three hours away and Keynan Middleton, finally activated after a grueling 15-month rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery, was churning with emotion.
"I'm just trying to keep it under control ... and right now, I'm failing," the Angels reliever said. "I'm really excited. It's been a long time. There's a lot of stuff going on in my head right now. I'm just ready to pitch, to be back with these guys."
Middleton had no outlet for that adrenaline Tuesday night in Angel Stadium. His services were not required in a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers that featured another superb start by Andrew Heaney and a four-run seventh-inning outburst by a lineup that mustered one single in the first six innings.
Trailing 1-0, the Angels solved Texas left-hander Mike Minor (11-8) in the seventh, which began with Shohei Ohtani's single and walks to Justin Upton and Albert Pujols.
Andrelton Simmons popped out to second, but Kole Calhoun ripped a two-run double to right-center field and pinch-hitter Brian Goodwin grounded a two-out, two-run single to center for a 4-1 lead.
Mike Trout, mired in a three-for-23 slump, cracked his major league-leading 43rd homer, a solo shot to left field that left his bat at 114 mph and traveled 442 feet, off reliever Rafael Montero in the eighth, as the Angels snapped a five-game losing streak.
Heaney, who racked up a career-high 14 strikeouts in eight innings at Texas on Aug. 21, allowed one unearned run and four hits in six innings, with 10 strikeouts and three walks. He has 24 strikeouts in his last two starts against the Rangers.
Texas scored in the third when Delino DeShields singled, took second on Calhoun's error in right field and scored on Shin-Soo Choo's two-out single to right. Danny Santana hit a homer off Cam Bedrosian in the eighth.
The return of Middleton, who had a 2.04 ERA and six saves before tearing his elbow ligament in May 2018, will eventually give Angels manager Brad Ausmus another late-inning option to go with Bedrosian and Hansel Robles, who retired the side in order in the ninth for his 19th save.
Middleton, 25, will be eased into action, ideally in a lower-leverage situation, "but it wouldn't bother me to put him in a close game," Ausmus said.
Middleton, slowed by a sore elbow in May and a mild case of ulnar neuritis in his elbow in July, prepped for his return with five triple-A games in which he allowed one earned run and two hits in 41/3 innings, struck out five and walked three, and touched 96 mph with his fastball.
"As I started getting more comfortable my velocity started getting higher," Middleton said. "I'm getting more comfortable every time out."
Middleton tried to remain even-keeled throughout the rehab process. When there were setbacks, "I told myself not to look at everything so negative," he said. Maintaining contact with teammates Tyler Skaggs, who died July 1, and Heaney, both of whom had Tommy John surgery, helped.
"This guy," Middleton said, pointing at Skaggs' locker next, "and Heaney were the two guys who checked in with me all the time. They had the same surgery a couple years ago. Heaney's been there the whole time. He's been sliding in my (direct messages) and texting me. I thank him for that."
