Part of the problem is that they’ve been without Logan O’Hoppe in the starting lineup for the past three games. O’Hoppe had a regular day off Sunday, and he dealt with an illness that kept him out of the lineup on Tuesday and Wednesday.

O’Hoppe had a single as a pinch-hitter Sunday, and he nearly gave the Angels the lead when he hit a fly ball to the warning track as a pinch-hitter Wednesday.

The Angels will get O’Hoppe back today. Shortstop Zach Neto could be back soon after. Neto, who has been rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery, was scheduled for back-to-back full games at shortstop at Triple-A on Tuesday and Wednesday. That was the last test he needed to clear. He could be back as soon as Thursday, although manager Ron Washington said that would surprise him. The latest he’ll be back is next Tuesday, after the end of the 20 days he’s permitted to be on a rehab assignment.

“I think they can definitely be difference-makers for us, of course,” outfielder Taylor Ward said. “It’ll be exciting to get Net back. Looking forward to it. It’s always good having him on defense too, and getting to watch them do things in front of me. Definitely looking forward to him getting back in lineup and Logan feeling better and getting back in there tomorrow.”

Without those players, the Angels did little with Rangers left-hander Patrick Corbin, even though he’s been one of the most hittable pitchers in the majors in recent years. Corbin had not posted an ERA better than 5.20 for his last four seasons. The Angels are also generally better against lefties, so Corbin should have been an enticing matchup to get their bats going.

It didn’t happen.

The Angels scored just one run against Corbin in 5 1/3 innings, doing almost nothing for the first five.

One of the few base runners the Angels had in the first five innings was Travis d’Arnaud, and he was caught when he ventured too far from first base on a ball that skipped away from catcher Jonah Heim.

The Angels didn’t get a runner into scoring position until the sixth inning.

Even when they finally did score, they failed to fully capitalize. In the sixth, they had runners at first and second with one out for Mike Trout and Jorge Soler, but Trout hit a flyout and Soler struck out.

In the seventh, they had two on with one out. Jo Adell struck out looking and then O’Hoppe hit a fly ball to the warning track.

The Angels were able to stay within striking distance of the Rangers because right-hander José Soriano and the bullpen weaved in and out of trouble throughout the game.

Soriano gave up three runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two.

It was a combination of Soriano not being at his best — leaving sinkers up in the zone — and some bad luck. Two of the hits were infield hits and two others were grounders that got through the infield. The Angels also made two errors on ground balls.

Still, it could have been worse. Soriano induced three double plays to help him minimize the damage.

All three Rangers runs scored in the second inning, when Soriano gave up three hits and two walks.

“When the game started, they came out jumping on that first pitch,” Washington said. “They already knew that Sori throws the ball around the strike zone, so they came out and they decided they were going to be aggressive, and they were, and they got him. But after that, he started making pitches. He kept us in the ball game. We just couldn’t find any offense to help him.”