Santiago can't hold leads in Angels' 15-9 loss at Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Angels starter Hector Santiago went to the mound with the lead each of his first two innings and went back to the dugout both times with the game tied.

Santiago didn't make it out of the third, when the Rangers went ahead to stay in a 15-9 victory Wednesday that gave them two wins in the three-game series.

''It just kind of fell apart. I didn't have good stuff today,'' Santiago said. ''Just an all-around bad day. I fell behind in counts, not making some great pitches. It just didn't go our way. ... Nothing's wrong with my health. It's just more of trying to make pitches and be in the zone.''

Santiago (3-3) allowed the longest homer in the major leagues this season, to Rangers rookie Nomar Mazara. He gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest start this season and the second game in a row he did not make it out of the third.

Last Friday at Baltimore, Santiago was gone after 2 2/3 innings, when the left-hander was ejected by plate umpire John Tumpane for arguing balls and strikes. He threw eight scoreless innings at Seattle before that.

After Santiago quickly blew the 1-0 lead he had before throwing a pitch in Texas, the Angels scored three more times in their second at-bat. Mazara led off the second with his eighth homer, and Texas added two more runs after that.

The game was tied at 4 when Texas started the third with consecutive hits off the Santiago before Ryan Rua greeted reliever Mike Morin with a two-run single that put the Rangers in the lead for good.

All five Los Angeles pitchers allowed runs, and even infielder Brendan Ryan warmed up in the bullpen before Rafael Ortega hit his first career homer, a three-run shot in the eighth for the Angels. The 15 runs were the most allowed by the Angels this season.

''There are times you want to kind of get guys back on the beam, but those guys in the room are really busting it, they really are,'' manager Mike Scioscia said.

Colby Lewis (4-0) got the win even though he failed to get through six innings for the first time in 10 starts this season. Lewis left with a 7-5 lead after giving up consecutive hits starting the sixth, and one of those runners scored.

Mazara, at 21 the youngest player in the majors, led off the second with a drive into the second deck of the right-seat seats that would have traveled 491 feet had it landed unimpeded, according to Major League Baseball's Statcast program.

''Wow, that was a grown-up homer right there,'' said Bobby Wilson, who had a career-high four hits. ''That's where the big boys go.''

HALO HITS

Before losing their last two games in Texas, the Angels had won eight of 11 after a six-game losing streak. ... Santiago was 5-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 10 previous games at Texas. ... Mike Trout, Yunel Escobar and Jett Bandy each had a sacrifice fly for Los Angeles.

MAYBE NOT THE LONGEST

While Mazara's homer is the longest in the majors this season, the Rangers wouldn't verify it as the longest hit in their 22-year-old ballpark; the Statcast system has been used only since last season. Ballpark records list Josh Hamilton's 490-foot homer against Houston on June 27, 2010, as the longest, a measurement determined by a University of Texas-Arlington physics professor. That home run also was hit into the upper deck in right field, but higher up and three sections closer to center field.

BUSY IN THE OUTFIELD

Rangers CF Ian Desmond had 10 putouts, a club record for an outfielder in a nine-inning game.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs, coming back from Tommy John surgery in 2014, threw his third bullpen session Wednesday and is expected to pitch a simulated game Saturday. Skaggs hasn't pitched at Triple-A since April after experiencing biceps tendinitis.

UP NEXT

Los Angeles opens a three-game series at home against Houston on Friday night.