Rough inning sinks Despaigne in Angels debut

ARLINGTON -- The Angels' pitching staff has endured so much attrition this season that they've been forced to turn to a record number of pitchers to fill the seemingly endless holes on their roster.
The latest reinforcement arrived Friday, when newly acquired right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to face the Rangers in a 6-4 loss at Globe Life Park. He yielded five runs over four innings in his first MLB start since March 31.
"I missed on a couple balls in the strike zone," said Despaigne, who was acquired from the Marlins in exchange for cash considerations on Tuesday. "I put a couple of balls in the happy zone of the hitters. When that happens, it's easy for a hitter. I'm going to work hard for next time and make adjustments to be ready."

The Rangers inflicted all their damage against Despaigne by batting around in a five-run second inning. After Nomar Mazara singled and Jurickson Profar walked, Joey Gallo delivered a two-run double to right field and advanced to third on David Fletcher's errant throw to the plate. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a run-scoring groundout to make it 3-0.
Texas loaded the bases with one out on three consecutive singles from Ronald Guzmán, Carlos Tocci and Shin-Soo Choo, setting up Rougned Odor's two-run single to right field. Despaigne finally worked out of the 36-pitch inning by striking out Elvis Andrus and coaxing a flyout from Mazara.
"His stuff looked good," manager Mike Scioscia said. "He obviously had a tough second inning. It looked like he lost his release point in the second. His ball-strike ratio was getting a little out of whack. He fought hard to get out of that inning with only five, but the damage was done at that point."
The Angels cut the deficit to 5-4 after Andrelton Simmons launched a two-run home run off left-handed reliever Jeffrey Springs in the sixth. Albert Pujols worked a one-out walk and Simmons drove a first-pitch fastball over the left-field fence for his eighth home run of the season.

Right-hander Deck McGuire piggybacked Despaigne's start and pitched the final four innings for the Angels, allowing only a sacrifice fly to Odor that pushed the Rangers' lead to 6-4 in the seventh. Despaigne and McGuire's combined effort provided a much-needed break for the rest of the Angels' relievers, eight of whom were used during Thursday's bullpen game.
"Any time you get a chance to help out the group that we have down there, you're going to take pride in it," McGuire said. "They've pitched unbelievable all year, so any chance I have to keep those guys fresh and give them a chance to keep pitching great, I'm just really happy I could do that."
Cory Gearrin and Chris Martin combined to work two scoreless innings for the Rangers before handing it off to closer José Leclerc, who pitched a clean ninth to hand the Angels their second consecutive loss of this four-game series.
Fletcher and Taylor Ward drove in one run each for the Angels, who went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base to drop back to .500 at 62-62.

SOUND SMART
Despaigne became the 34th pitcher to make an appearance for the Angels this year, setting a franchise record.
HE SAID IT
"Whenever you get traded, it's always a surprise for you. I live in Miami, too, but it's the business. I'm happy to be here with a new team, new teammates." -- Despaigne, on being traded to the Angels
UP NEXT
The Angels will send left-hander Andrew Heaney to the mound on Saturday for the third game of a four-game series against the Rangers at 5:05 p.m. PT at Globe Life Park. He will be opposed by Texas left-hander Martín Pérez (2-5, 6.71 ERA). Heaney is 0-5 with a 4.97 ERA in 11 road starts this year, and 7-2 with a 2.90 ERA in 11 starts at home. He is seeking his first road victory since Sept. 2, 2015, at Oakland. Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of Heaney's return from Tommy John surgery.