Ross Detwiler will try to shake off a rough Texas debut on Monday evening when the Rangers kick off a three-game series with the visiting Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Acquired from the Washington Nationals this past offseason, Detwiler was roughed up for eight runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings of a 10-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. It was the left-hander's first start since 2013 after making 47 relief appearances last season with the Nationals.
"I definitely thought the debut with a new team would go a lot better," Detwiler said.
The 29-year-old will make his first career start versus the Angels. He faced them once before in relief, allowing an unearned run on one hit and three walks over 1 2/3 innings.
The Rangers failed to finish off the Houston Astros in Sunday's rubber match of a three-game series, falling 6-4 in 14 innings. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 men on base.
They almost had a second hit, but Leonys Martin's bases-loaded drive in the 10th inning, one that looked as if it would be a walk-off grand slam, was snagged by Houston's George Springer at the wall for a leaping catch.
Martin drove in two runs, while starter Colby Lewis allowed four runs over 7 1/3 innings of a no-decision.
"Everyone fought until the last at-bat," Martin said. "We kept fighting and played hard."
The Angels nearly fought on the field in Sunday's 9-2 loss to Kansas City that finished off a three-game sweep for the Royals.
Mike Trout was at the center of the incident with Royals starter Yordano Ventura, who appeared to jaw at the Los Angeles outfielder after he hit a single in the sixth inning.
Trout came around to score in the inning and Ventura again exchanged words with him. The benches and bullpens emptied during the second altercation, but no punches were thrown and the situation was resolved in a matter of minutes.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he didn't know what it was all about.
"For some reason Ventura was getting in his face about something," Scioscia said. "It's not on Mike. Mike is just playing baseball."
Albert Pujols hit his second homer for the Angels, who fell to 2-4 on the season. The homer was the 522nd of Pujols' career, giving him sole possession of 18th place on the all-time list as he moved past Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and Frank Thomas.
C.J. Wilson took the loss, allowing seven runs -- six earned -- on nine hits and a walk. He was coming off eight shutout innings in a 2-0 win over Seattle last Tuesday, when he retired the final 17 batters he faced.
Matt Shoemaker gets the call for Los Angeles tonight after opening his campaign with a 5-3 win at Seattle on Wednesday. He gave up three runs on a pair of homers over six innings, striking out five.
The two longballs allowed were an odd sight as the right-hander has yielded just 16 homers in 29 career games (22 starts) and 147 innings.
Shoemaker, 28, has won all three of his previous career starts against the Rangers, yielding four runs and one home run over 20 innings for a 1.80 earned run average.
The Angels won nine of 10 in Texas last season.
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