Angels stage stunning rally to prevent the Rangers from clinching the AL West - MLB

On the strength of a stunning five-inning rally in the top of the ninth inning, the Angels beat the Rangers 11-10 this afternoon in Arlington. The Rangers had a chance to clinch the AL West with a victory, but now the wait continues.

It was a wild one. The Angels grabbed an early 5-1 lead against Colby Lewis, but the Rangers battled right back to tie it in the bottom of the fifth inning. Johnny Giavotella put the Angels back in front with an RBI double in the top of the sixth, but the Rangers scored two in the bottom of the inning to move ahead. Josh Hamilton and Rougned Odor each homered off Mat Latos in the seventh to give the Rangers a 10-6 lead and it appeared that the march to the AL West title was on. Until it wasn’t.

Working for the fifth straight day, Shawn Tolleson was tasked with getting the final three outs. However, he failed to retire a batter, giving up back-to-back homers to Erick Aybar and Kole Calhoun to begin the frame. Rangers manager Jeff Banister then turned to Ross Ohlendorf, who got Mike Trout to ground out to shortstop before Albert Pujols reached on a pop-up which couldn’t be handled by Mike Napoli and Odor. Pujols hustled all the way and made it to second base. Ohlendorf struck out David Murphy for the second out, but C.J. Cron followed with an RBI single to bring the Angels within one run. David Freese followed with a single before Carlos Perez singled in pinch-runner Collin Cowgill to tie the game. Giavotella then singled to bring in the go-ahead run. Andrew Faulkner replaced Ohlendorf from there and finally managed to get the Rangers out of the nightmare inning.

Joe Smith, pitching in place of injured closer Huston Street, notched the save for the Angels. Of course, it happened in an unconventional way, as Elvis Andrus reached on a two-out single and overslid second base on a stolen base attempt for the final out of the ballgame. Ouch. By the way, today’s winning pitcher was Jo-Jo Reyes, who threw just one pitch to get out of the bottom of the eighth inning. The win was his first since 2011.

The Rangers hold a 1.5 game lead in the AL West, but that could be trimmed to just one game if the Astros beat the Diamondbacks tonight. The Angels are half-game back of the Astros for the second Wild Card spot and the two clubs could be tied if Arizona wins tonight. There’s plenty of drama remaining between these three teams.

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PITTSBURGH — The New York Mets will have to dig out of an early-season hole without star first baseman Pete Alonso.

The leading home run hitter in the majors will miss three-to-four weeks with a bone bruise and a sprain in his left wrist.

The Mets placed Alonso on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to June 8. Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton in the first inning of a 7-5 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Alonso traveled to New York for testing on Thursday. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but the Mets will be missing one of the premier power hitters in the game as they try to work their way back into contention in the NL East.

“We got better news than it could have been,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “So we take that as a positive. It could have been worse.”

New York had lost six straight heading into a three-game series at Pittsburgh that began Friday. Mark Canha started at first for the Mets in the opener. Mark Vientos could also be an option, though Showalter said the coaching staff may have to use its “imagination” in thinking of ways to get by without Alonso.

“I’m not going to say someone has to step up and all that stuff,” Showalter said. “You’ve just got to be who you are.”

Even with Alonso in the lineup, the Mets have struggled to score consistently. New York is 16th in the majors in runs scored.

The team also said Friday that reliever Edwin Uceta had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Uceta initially went on the IL in April with what the team called a sprained left ankle. He is expected to be out for at least an additional eight weeks.

New York recalled infielder Luis Guillorme and left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets sent catcher Tomás Nido to Triple-A and designated reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment.

Nogosek is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 games this season.