Right-hander Matt Shoemaker threw five shutout innings in his first start since March, and rookie Taylor Ward broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in the seventh inning Monday night, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in the opener of a three-game series at Arlington, Texas.

Shoemaker returned to the Angels after spending five months on the disabled list following nerve surgery on his right forearm.

He gave up hits to two of the first three batters he faced but no more over his 62-pitch comeback. He walked one and struck out three.

Taylor Cole, Jose Alvarez, Justin Anderson, Ty Buttrey and Blake Parker combined to limit the Rangers to one run over the final four innings, helping the Angels snap a two-game losing streak. Texas, which won its previous two games, was coming off an 18-run explosion against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Cole (1-2), who gave up a run in 1 1/3 innings, was credited with the win. Parker pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth by Adrian Beltre to notch his 14th save.

The Angels finally broke through offensively in the seventh after being shut out by left-hander Jeffrey Springs for two innings and righty Ariel Jurado for four.

Jose Fernandez greeted Zac Curtis (0-1) with a single, and Ward followed one out later with his third homer of the season, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.

David Fletcher delivered a third run in the inning with a two-out single off Connor Sadzeck.

Making his first major league start after 10 relief appearances, Springs struck out three in his two scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and no walks.

The Rangers rallied against the Los Angeles bullpen in the seventh, getting within 3-1 on Joey Gallo's two-out double that scored Elvis Andrus.

However, Anderson, the Angels' third pitcher of the inning, struck out pinch hitter Ronald Guzman with the bases loaded to retain the two-run lead.

Fernandez finished with two hits for the Angels, who improved to 7-4 against the Rangers this season.

Andrus collected three of Texas' six hits.

--Field Level Media