Trout, Heaney with career highs in Angels' 5-1 win at Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Andrew Heaney was focused on going as deep as he could for the Los Angeles Angels in the opener of a hot day-night doubleheader.

After the Angels used eight pitchers in an 11-inning series-opening loss, and then flipped their scheduled starters Tuesday because of Jaime Barria's fever, Heaney got an earlier start than expected. The lefty had a career-high 14 strikeouts without a walk over eight innings in a 5-1 win over the Texas Rangers in the doubleheader opener.

"Considering the circumstance of the extra-inning game last night, doubleheader today, he gave us exactly what we needed," manager Brad Ausmus said.

Mike Trout matched the MLB lead with his career-best 42nd homer, a two-run shot in the first inning that put the Angels up 3-0 before Heaney (3-3) even threw his first pitch on a day with temperatures in the upper 90s -- it reached 100 degrees during the game.

"I was able to keep all of my pitches on line ... tried to just get ahead early obviously," Heaney said. "Everybody knows it's hot, just trying to get as deep into the game as I can, try to save the bullpen, all of those things. I think sometimes that should be the mentality you have every single time you go out."

Ausmus said Heaney was able to sit in the shade between innings, and wasn't ever on the mound very long. Heaney retired 16 batters in a row after allowing consecutive one-out singles in the first, and allowed only two more hits after that.

"He was very methodically going about his business. I think that probably played into him being able to be effective and efficient," Ausmus said.

"Early in the game, I was trying to kind of conserve a little bit," Heaney said. "Until I got guys on, or two strikes, I just tried to just sort of work ahead."

The doubleheader opener was the makeup of the July 1 game that was postponed after pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room the last time the Angels played in Texas. The coroner hasn't released a cause of death for Skaggs, who was 27.

Heaney, who was one of the Skaggs' best friends, had 10 of his strikeouts during the stretch of 16 consecutive retired batters before Willie Calhoun's homer with two outs in the sixth. Heaney threw 79 of his 108 pitches for strikes.

"He was able to locate all of his pitches today. He was able to go in and out," Calhoun said. "When you're able to do that and you're able to control the ball and manipulate it wherever you want it to go, that's always a good day for a pitcher. Yeah, he had a really good day."

Luis Rengifo also homered, his two-run shot in the fifth making it 5-0.

Joe Palumbo (0-2) was added from Triple-A Nashville as the 26th player for the doubleheader. The lefty lasted only 1 2/3 innings, leaving because of a blister on his left thumb after a 1-2 pitch to Trout in the second inning.

10 AGAINST TEXAS

Trout has 10 homers this year against the Rangers, matching the most ever by an opponent against them in the same season. Oakland's Khris Davis hit 10 homers against Texas in both 2016 and 2018. Trout just missed two more homers in the doubleheader opener. He pulled a towering flyball in the fourth that went just left of the foul pole -- there was a crew chief review by the umpires just to make sure -- and he tripled high off the 14-foot wall in left in the ninth.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: Barria (4-6) had a fever Monday night, so the Angels switched the order of their starters to give him more rest. The right-hander was set to start the nightcap.

Rangers: RF Nomar Mazara was put on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain suffered Monday. Infielder Nick Solak was called up and made his major league debut as the DH; he had a single in the seventh.

UP NEXT

The Rangers play the nightcap of their third doubleheader since early June, while the Angels wrap up their first twinbill since September 2015. Lefty Brock Burke is set to make his MLB debut for the Rangers, and he will be the third consecutive Texas starter under age 25 -- the first time that has happened for the Rangers since July 2008.

---

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports