Rangers 4, Phillies 2
ARLINGTON, Texas, June 22 — The events of Wednesday afternoon saw the Texas Rangers sweep the Philadelphia Phillies. The final score of the series finale was 4–2. A two-hit afternoon by shortstop Corey Seager was a big factor in this one. It helped the Rangers secure their second win in a row, and it also set a nice tone for the remainder of the home stand. With this sweep, the Rangers have taken all four of their games against the Phillies this year. Two were played in Philadelphia, and two were played in Arlington. Now with the Phillies leaving town, the Rangers will host the Washington Nationals for three games. That series will begin on Friday at 7:05 PM Central. Right-hander Paolo Espino (0–1, 2.29 ERA) will start for Washington. On the other side, the Rangers will give the starting nod to Dane Dunning (1–5, 4.38 ERA).
Rangers Sweep Phillies
The Rangers’ sweep of the Phillies was well deserved. The game stayed scoreless until the bottom of the second inning. Rangers’ DH Brad Miller hit a single to right field that allowed Jonah Heim, and Josh Smith to score. They got their third run in the bottom of the third inning. It came on an RBI single by Kole Calhoun. Corey Seager, who went 2–for-4 in the game with a single and a double, was able to score on the play. Their fourth, and final run came in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Rangers’ center fielder Adolis Garcia was able to score on an RBI double from the aforementioned Calhoun. Calhoun got a little greedy when he tried to stretch said double into a triple. He was thrown out at third base by Phillies’ second baseman Bryson Stott. That was all the offense that was needed in order for the Rangers to sweep the Phillies.
Phillies’ Offense
Fans seemed thrilled to watch their Rangers sweep the Phillies on Wednesday. Some of them may have been there to see Bryce Harper play. Harper, who was coming off an infection on his finger, was back in the lineup for the series finale. He sat out on Tuesday. He singled, walked, and struck out on Wednesday. The Phillies got on the board in the top of the third inning. Phillies’ left fielder Kyle Schwarber connected on a pitch, and sent it over the wall in center field to tie the game at 2–2. They threatened several more times throughout this contest, but ultimately, they were unable to drive anyone else home.
Rangers Pitching Notes
Right-hander Jon Gray got the start for the Rangers on Wednesday, and he pitched well. He struck out five. Gray earned the win after allowing just two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He exited with two runners on and two outs in the sixth inning, before Matt Moore entered and struck out Didi Gregorius to strand both runners and preserve the Texas lead. Gray’s record for 2022 is now 3–3, with an ERA of 4.18. Dennis Santana came on in relief of Moore. He pitched one inning, and gave up only one hit. He also struck out one.
Joe Barlow got the save for the Rangers by pitching a perfect ninth inning. Righty Zack Wheeler took the loss for the Phillies. He pitched 4 1/3 innings. Wheeler gave up four runs, two earned, on seven hits. He walked three, and struck out eight.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Corey Seager, Paolo Espino, Dane Dunning, Brad Miller, Jonah Heim, Kole Calhoun, Adolis Garcia, Bryson Stott, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Jon Gray, Matt Moore, Didi Gregorius, Dennis Santana, Joe Barlow, Zack Wheeler, Josh Smith
