Rangers 6, Royals 4
ARLINGTON, Texas, May 10 — The Texas Rangers won their series opener against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday evening. The final score was 6–4. The bat of Rangers’ shortstop Corey Seager was the big factor in this one. Seager hit two solo home runs before the start of the fourth inning. The second game in this three-game series is on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM Central. Righty Matt Bush (1–1, 4.09 ERA) will start for Texas. Kansas City, meanwhile, will give the starting nod to lefty Gabe Speier (0–0, 0.00 ERA).
Rangers Feed Off Seager’s Success
The aforementioned Seager got things started for the Rangers against the Royals. In the bottom of the first inning. He hit his first home run of the night to put the Rangers ahead 1–0. This came off Royals’ starter Brad Keller. Later on in the inning, Rangers’ right fielder Kole Calhoun singled to left field. The base hit drove in Jonah Heim and Adolis Garcia to make it 3–0 Rangers.
Seager’s second home run came in the bottom of the third inning. Once again, he hit it off of Keller. Seager’s first home run went to left field. The second homer went to right-center field. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the score was 4–0 in favor of the Rangers. It would soon become 5–0 on a single by Brad Miller that drove in Nick Solak. Their sixth run came in the bottom of the sixth inning. A wild pitch allowed Solak to score. It also moved Eli White to third base.
Royals’ Offense
The Rangers were able to keep Kansas City off the board until the top of the fifth inning. MJ Melendez singled on a ground ball to first base. This drove in Hunter Dozier. The score was 5–1 at the time. The Royals’ next run came in the top of the seventh inning. Once again, it was Dozier that crossed the plate. He was driven in by Michael A. Taylor on an RBI single. Later in the inning, Emmanuel Rivera scored the Royals’ third tally on a single by Whit Merrifield. Taylor moved to third base on the play.
Their fourth and final run was scored in the same inning. Nicky Lopez grounded into a force out to Seager. Taylor was able to trot home on this play.
Rangers Pitching Notes
Texas lefty Martin Perez got the start on Tuesday. He pitched 6 1/3 innings. Perez allowed four runs, one of which was earned, on five hits. He didn’t walk anyone, and he tallied six strikeouts. Fellow lefty John King replaced Perez in the seventh inning. King surrendered two hits and a walk. Meanwhile, he struck out two. Right-hander Joe Barlow pitched the ninth inning for Texas. He tossed a perfect frame, pitching to contact. One of his outs came on a great catch in right field by Kole Calhoun. Barlow got the save, his fifth on the year. Perez got the win (1–2, 2.10 ERA).
After pitching 5 2/3 innings, Brad Keller took the loss for the Royals (1–3, 2.70 ERA). He gave up six runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits. He walked one, struck out three, and gave up both of Seager’s home runs.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Corey Seager, Brad Keller, Kole Calhoun, Jonah Heim, Adolis Garcia, Brad Miller, Nick Solak, Eli White, MJ Melendez, Hunter Dozier, Michael A. Taylor, Emmanuel Rivera, Whit Merrifield, Nicky Lopez, Martin Perez, John King, Joe Barlow, Matt Bush, Gabe Speier
