A.J. Alexy has 2nd phenomenal start, Rangers top Angels 4-0

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A.J. Alexy managed to follow up his outstanding major league debut with something even better. Two starts into his career with Texas, the confident, rangy right-hander has made history by throwing 11 scoreless innings of two-hit ball.

He's even been good enough to stir some optimism and excitement at the end of the Rangers' fifth straight losing season.

Alexy allowed one hit over six dominant innings, and Jose Trevino drove in two runs in a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.

Alexy (2-0) retired his final 13 batters and didn’t permit a baserunner after the second inning, improbably improving on his impressive debut last month. After pitching five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball against Colorado, Alexy is the first pitcher in modern major league history to go at least five shutout innings while allowing fewer than two hits as a starter in each of his first two career appearances.

“There’s still a lot of stuff that I can work on, but it’s definitely a good start, and (I can) build off of that,” Alexy said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

Alexy finished with a flourish by striking out the side in the sixth, giving him seven strikeouts on the night. The last two were stunners: He fanned David Fletcher, who's second in the majors with 10.7 at-bats per strikeout, and then home run leader Shohei Ohtani.

“The most impressive part of it was going into the sixth inning, he was at that threshold of pitches, but I just wanted to see how it looked,” Texas manager Chris Woodward said. “Strikes out a hitter who doesn’t hardly ever get struck out, and then strikes out one of the best hitters in the game to end it. That’s impressive.”

Alexy, who pitches only out of the stretch, is a former Dodgers draft pick acquired by Texas in the long-ago...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/A-J-Alexy-has-2nd-phenomenal-start-Rangers-top-16439297.php