Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
LA Angels 11, Texas 3
When: 10:05 PM ET, Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Where: Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
Temperature: 79°
Umpires: Home - Jim Wolf, 1B - Jeff Nelson, 2B - Bill Welke, 3B - Cory Blaser
Attendance: 36948

Angels 11, Rangers 3: Slumping Chris Iannetta's two-run single ignited an eight-run fourth inning and Jered Weaver pitched seven strong innings for his 100th career win as host Los Angeles crushed Texas in the series opener.

Weaver (18-4) overcame one shaky inning to tie Tampa Bay's David Price for the American League lead in wins, giving up three runs on six hits to remain unbeaten (9-0) against the Rangers in Anaheim and keep the Angels three games out of the second wild card.

Iannetta, who entered the game 4-for-29 without an extra-base hit or RBI in his previous 11 games, tied that game at 3-3 with a single to the right-field wall off Texas starter Ryan Dempster. Kendrys Morales and Howie Kendrick added RBI singles and Alberto Callaspo capped the eight-run outburst with an RBI double.

Dempster (6-2) had his five-start winning streak snapped, lasting only 3 1/3 innings and giving up five runs on six hits as the Rangers remained three games ahead of Oakland atop the AL West.

Ian Kinsler belted a two-run homer and Mike Napoli added a solo shot in the third to give Texas a 3-1 lead against Weaver, who settled down and retired the final eight batters he faced. Erick Aybar had three hits for Los Angeles.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Angels 1B Albert Pujols missed the game to be with his wife for the birth of the couple's fifth child. Pujols has a .357 career batting average and seven homers against Dempster. ... Rangers CF Josh Hamilton, who leads the majors in homers with 42, left the game in the fourth inning with sinus issues. ... Angels RHP Tanner Scheppers suffered a bruised right knee in a collision with Iannetta while attempting to cover home plate.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Texas   LA Angels
Ryan Dempster Player Jered Weaver
Loss W/L Win
3.1 IP 7.0
0 Strikeouts 2
6 Hits 6
13.50 ERA 3.86
Hitting
Texas   LA Angels
Mike Napoli Player Erick Aybar
2 Hits 3
1 RBI 1
1 HR 0
5 TB 3
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Texas 7 2 13 .212 10 2 3 1 0 1
LA Angels 11 0 12 .333 13 2 9 6 2 1