The victory allowed the Rangers to reduce their magic number for winning the American League West to four with 11 games left to play. The Rangers have a nine-game lead over the Mariners, who were hosting the Blue Jays in a late game on the West Coast. The Angels had a two-game winning streak snapped and have lost 10 of their last 13.
Elvis Andrus led off the ninth with a single off Angels reliever Jose Alvarez. Carlos Gomez then dropped a bunt and beat it out for a base hit. That brought up Desmond, who flared one into right field to send home Andrus with the winning run.