Angels' 15-4 romp hands Rangers 1st home loss

ARLINGTON, Texas – Angels rookie first baseman Mark Trumbo homered and drove in four runs to back a solid outing by fill-in starter Matt Palmer as Los Angeles broke out for a 15-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

It was the first home loss for the defending American League champions.

Trumbo, playing his 24th career game since his call-up last September, had three hits. Maicer Izturis and Peter Bourjos also homered among his four hits for the Angels, who have won 10 of their last 13 games.

Palmer (1-0), in his second start for injured Scott Kazmir, limited Texas to one run and three hits over six innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.

The Rangers had won their first seven home games in a season for the first time, including the series-opening 7-1 victory Monday night after returning from a nine-game road trip.

Los Angeles and Texas are tied atop the AL West with 11-6 records. The finale of their three-game series is Wednesday night.

Alberto Callaspo, Trumbo, Hank Conger and Bourjos — the bottom four batters in the Angels lineup — combined for 11 hits, 11 runs and 10 RBIs. Each had multiple hits and scored multiple runs.

Colby Lewis (1-2), pitching for the first time in 10 days after being the first player ever to go on Major League Baseball's paternity leave list, gave up four runs in five erratic innings.

Lewis walked Izturis on five pitches to start the game, then fielded Bobby Abreu's comebacker and one-hopped the throw to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who managed to gather the ball for the force at second base but couldn't turn the double play.

Callaspo drew the first of his two walks against Lewis in the second, then moved to third after a wild pitch compounded by catcher Yorvit Torrealba's throwing error. Trumbo followed with an RBI single.

The only 1-2-3 inning for Lewis came in the third, before Ian Kinsler's RBI single in the bottom of the inning tied the game. But Lewis then walked Callaspo again in the fourth before Trumbo's towering homer put the Angels ahead to stay.

Izturis led off the fifth with his second homer of the season for a 4-1 lead.

Lewis was home in California in time for his daughter's birth last Wednesday, four days after his previous start, then went on the three-day paternity list Friday. He struck out three and walked three.

Mason Tobin took over for Lewis to start the sixth, and got only one out while giving up three runs before leaving because of pain in his right elbow. The rookie reliever is scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday.

Callaspo had a one-out single against Tobin and scored on Trumbo's double before Conger walked.

Bourjos greeted reliever Michael Kirkman with an RBI single that got past left fielder David Murphy and rolled to the wall, an error that allowed Conger and Bourjos to also score.

Bourjos, in a 5-for-30 slump before three hits Monday night, added a two-run homer in the seventh for a 13-1 lead.

Kazmir, sidelined by lower back soreness since giving up five runs in 1 2-3 innings in his only start this season April 3, threw three innings in an extended spring training game Wednesday. Manager Mike Scioscia said the left-hander threw only fastballs and that his velocity picked up during the outing. Kazmir is expected to throw again in four or five days.

Before Callaspo walked in the fourth, Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre barehanded a slow roller by Vernon Wells and made a strong throw while falling down for the first out of that inning.

Notes: Texas had four errors, its most since five on July 29, 2008. ... Izturis, the leadoff hitter, is 12 for 21 (.571) in the five games on the trip. He had multiple hits the first four games, but did walk twice to go with his homer. ... Heavy rain and some hail started to fall about the same time the Angels were set to take batting practice. The field was covered and the game started only 11 minutes late. The game-time temperature was 70 degrees, more than 20 degrees cooler than when the Rangers were wrapping up their BP about two hours earlier.