ANAHEIM — Kyle Higashioka picked quite the way to mark his return.
After missing time with a mild right hamstring strain, the veteran catcher made an immediate impact Tuesday night, belting two home runs in the Rangers’ 8-5 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium.
“I’d definitely be in a better mood if we got the win,” said Higashioka, who hails from nearby Huntington Beach. “But it’s always special to play close to home. Great weather, good field — it’s just nice to be back.”
The Rangers are glad to have him, too. Before his injury on July 22 against the A’s, Higashioka was red-hot in July, hitting .362/.367/.596 with 17 hits, including three home runs, five extra-base hits, nine RBIs, and three steals. With Tuesday’s pair of homers, he now has five in the past month — a big jump from the lone homer he hit over the first three months of the season back on April 17 vs. the Dodgers.
Higashioka kept his approach simple at the plate, hunting for a pitch in the middle of the zone. In the fourth inning, he fouled off several pitches before finally capitalizing on a hanging slider from Yusei Kikuchi, launching it over the left-center wall and into the bullpen despite Taylor Ward’s leaping effort.
“He made a lot of quality pitches,” Higashioka said. “I just settled in and found a bit of a groove.”
Later, in the sixth, Higashioka singled to spark a rally, eventually coming around to score on an RBI single from Ezequiel Duran. Josh Smith also scored after Ward mishandled the relay throw, giving Texas a brief 4-3 lead before the Angels responded in the bottom half.
In the eighth, Higashioka came through again. Facing Connor Brogdon, he stayed patient and adjusted his approach, expecting a different look than he got from Kikuchi. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, he got another fastball down the middle — and didn’t miss. He crushed it 411 feet, his longest homer of the season, capping off a 3-for-4, two-RBI night in front of friends and family in Southern California.
“Impressive, wasn’t it?” said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. “To come back after time off and be that locked in — terrific night for him.”
Higashioka was just happy to feel healthy again. “That felt good,” he said. “You never want to be out that long, but the hamstring’s feeling better, and hopefully I can just keep helping us moving forward.”
ANAHEIM — Tensions briefly flared late in the game after Rangers reliever Shawn Armstrong hit two Angels batters in the eighth inning.
With the Angels leading 7-5 and a runner on third, Armstrong hit Zach Neto with a 2-2 fastball. Two pitches later, he plunked Mike Trout on the hand with another 92-mph heater. That marked the fourth time an Angels batter had been hit in the game, prompting interim manager Ray Montgomery to yell toward the Rangers’ dugout as he walked near the plate.
Montgomery said after the game that his message was simple: “Clean it up.”
No punches were thrown, and the benches quickly settled down. The Angels went on to win, 8-5.
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