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Angels rally to get George Klassen his first major-league victory

August 13, 2026

ANAHEIM — George Klassen gave the Angels exactly what they needed on a night when the bullpen was tapped.

And then the hitters did what they needed to do to get Klassen his first major league victory.

The right-hander pitched six innings but left with a one-run deficit, just before they scored three runs on their way to a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.

The Angels hadn’t scored more than four runs in a game since July 24, a 16-game streak.

They did a little of everything to score four runs in the sixth and seventh innings, including a big José Siri double, a Denzer Guzman squeeze, a clutch Mike Trout hit and a bit of good fortune with Adam Frazier’s single off the first base bag.

Relievers Blake Weiman, Ryan Watson and Ben Joyce then held the lead. It was Joyce’s first save since 2024, before he underwent shoulder surgery that cost him a season and a half.

The Angels (47-74) held on for a victory using four pitchers who weren’t on the roster before the trade deadline.

Klassen, who essentially joined the rotation in place of José Soriano, delivered the best of his four big league starts.

Klassen gave up two runs in six innings, after not making it past four innings in his first three starts. He issued only one walk – although it was a bases-loaded walk – and he struck out five.

“I thought he was great,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He attacked. First pitch strikes. We try to emphasize that. Getting ahead with his stuff. Competing with his best stuff. Attacking where you know what his strengths are. He was really great.”

Control was his primary problem during his two-game stint in the majors back in April. He walked 10 in those two games. He improved his strike-throwing in Triple-A since then, and it showed with his performance against the Rangers.

He gave up a run in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Joc Pederson, and he gave up a homer to Corey Seager in the third.

After that, Klassen said he just tried to slow it down. He also made an adjustment with his changeup.

“Definitely getting the change up where I wanted it to be,” Klassen said. “I needed that to get the hitter’s timing off. Once I made a couple changes getting on top of them more, we could use the pitch mix a lot better.”

Klassen faced the minimum after the Seager homer, retiring eight of nine hitters with a double play erasing the single he allowed.

The Angels needed Klassen to get them as deep as possible because the bullpen was tapped after a 10-inning game on Monday and a one-run victory on Tuesday.

He left with a 2-1 deficit, before the Angels finally started converting on their opportunities at the plate.

Moisés Ballesteros led off the inning with a single. Vaughn Grissom grounded into a force. Siri, who was pinch-hitting, then drilled a double into the gap in left-center, scoring the tying run. He then stole third.

After Oswald Peraza was hit by a pitch, Denzer Guzman got the call to drop down a squeeze. He squared early, leaving no mystery about what he was doing, but he still got the bunt down, and Siri bolted home and slid around the tag of catcher Elias Diaz.

The Angels got an insurance run in the sixth on a two-out RBI single from Trout, who had another hit with a runner in scoring position to produce the Angels’ first run. Trout came into the game hitting .167 with runners in scoring position.

“It’s baseball,” Trout said. “Sometimes. When it’s not going your way, sometimes you press a little bit. Keep it simple. Good things happen.”

In the seventh, with two outs and two on, Frazier hit a bouncer up the first base line. The ball hit the bag and shot into the air, allowing the Angels’ fifth run to score.

Joyce didn’t even need the extra cushion when he took the mound in the ninth. He retired the Rangers in order, with a fastball that topped out at 103.4 mph. He has not allowed a run in any of his first four games.

“He’s getting better each time out,” Suzuki said. “He’s getting more comfortable each time out. Ball’s coming out of his hand really easy. It’s nice to have that stability in the back end. It’s really nice.”

Orange County Register

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Angels rally to get George Klassen his first major-league victory

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