The Los Angeles Angels insisted they would neither be intimidated by, nor reflexively respond to, the bullying pitching tactics of the Texas Rangers.
But one night after some chin music inspired the Angels to a comeback victory, playing nice did not suit them nearly as well. With both pitching staffs on good behavior until late in Wednesday's game, the Texas offense thrived in a 9-3 victory before 31,723 at Ameriquest Field.
The game was marred, however, when the benches and dugouts emptied for a brawl in the top of the ninth inning. After the Angels had hit two Texas batters in the bottom of the eighth, Rangers reliever Scott Feldman hit Adam Kennedy with a fastball to his buttocks with two out in the ninth. Kennedy immediately charged the mound and began exchanging wild swings with the Texas pitcher.
Rangers third baseman Mark DeRosa, a former quarterback at the University of Pennsylvania, took Kennedy down from behind with a tackle as players from both teams swarmed the field. It took eight minutes to restore order and resume play for the final out.
An eight-run third inning had staked the Rangers to an early nine-run lead, as rookie left-hander Joe Saunders faltered for the first time in five starts.
The Angels' frustration finally boiled over in the bottom of the eighth, as relievers Kevin Gregg and Brendan Donnelly each were ejected for hitting Texas batters. Angels manager Mike Scioscia and bench coach Ron Roenicke drew automatic ejections along with them, leaving pitching coach Bud Black to finish the game as acting manager.
Saunders (4-1) was mauled early, getting chased after 2 2/3 innings, having allowed more runs (eight, seven earned) than in his first four starts and 27 innings (seven, five earned). He left Texas with an ERA that had swelled from 1.67 to 3.64.
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la_faker_81
GO ANGELS   
Well he's kind of had it in me ever since i accidentally ran over his dog. Actually, replace "accidentally" with "repeatedly" and replace "dog" with "son".
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"brawl" in texas
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