Rangers 10, Athletics 3
ARLINGTON, Texas, Aug 18 — The ever elusive long ball returned to the Texas Rangers‘ lineup, as they used it to beat the Oakland A’s on Thursday by a final score of 10–3. Home runs by Mark Mathias, and Nathaniel Lowe were the difference makers in this one. With this win, the Rangers split their four-game series with the Athletics. It also brings their 2022 record to 53–65. From here, the Rangers head to the twin cities to start a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins, who currently hold down second place in the AL Central with a record of 61–55. The opener for this upcoming series will be on Friday 7:10 PM Central at Target Field. Right-hander Dylan Bundy (6–5, 4.76 ERA) will start for the Twins. The Rangers will send lefty Martin Perez (9–3, 2.79 ERA) to the hill in this one.
Long Ball Returns
Prior to Thursday’s contest, it had been three days since the Rangers last hit a home run. They got two of them in the series finale against the Athletics. That would come a little later in the game, however. The Rangers got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Outfielder Adolis Garcia scored on a triple by catcher Jonah Heim. This was the first triple of Heim’s young career. Later in the inning, Texas DH Mark Mathias hit a solo home run to left field to extend the Rangers’ lead to 2–0. It was the second homer of the year for Mathias.
The Rangers got their third run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Another RBI base hit by Jonah Heim, a single to be specific, drove in Nathaniel Lowe. It also allowed Garcia to advance to second base. The score would soon become 4–2 on a sacrifice fly by Leody Taveras. Garcia scored his second run of the afternoon on the play. The Rangers hit their second long ball of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth inning.
It came off the bat of Nathaniel Lowe, and it was of the three-run variety. Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager were the two men on base at that point in the game. The Rangers scored three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. A wild pitch by allowed Mathias to score. Then Ezequiel Duran scored on a single by Semien, and a sacrifice fly by Seager drove in Bubba Thompson.
Athletics’ Offense
The long ball accounted for two of the Athetics’ three runs on the afternoon at Globe Life Field. In the top of the fourth inning, Oakland second baseman Sheldon Neuse belted a home run to left field to tie the game 2–2. Seth Brown scored on the round-tripper. Their third, and final run of the afternoon came in the top of the seventh inning. A wild pitch by Rangers reliever Brett Martin brought catcher Shea Langeliers in to score.
Pitching Notes
Right-hander Dane Dunning turned in his tenth quality start of the season (6 2/3 IP, 2 R-ER) to earn his second win win in three starts (he is now 3–6, with an ERA of 4.06). This comes after a 15-start winless span (0–5) that was the longest single-season losing streak in franchise history. Dunning has gone 2–0 with a 2.60 ERA (five R-ER/17 1/3 IP) in three outings this month to drop his season ERA from 4.30 to 4.06, and has allowed four or fewer runs in nine straight starts dating back to June 24 (3.56 ERA over that span).
He improved his career record at Globe Life Field to 8–4, with an ERA of 3.15 (47 ER/134.1 IP), tying Jordan Lyles for all-time lead in wins at this facility Both runs allowed this afternoon came via the two-run homer by Sheldon Neuse in the fourthth inning, but Dunning held A’s batters 1-for-8 with two walks following the blast. Lefty Zach Logue took the losing decision for the A’s. His record for 2022 now sits at 3–7, with an ERA of 6.35. He pitched 4 1/3 innings. Over the course of those innings, he gave up seven earned runs on six hits. He walked three, struck out two, and surrendered the long ball twice. There was no save recorded in this game.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Mark Mathias, Nathaniel Lowe, Dylan Bundy, Martin Perez, Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, Leody Taveras, Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Ezequiel Duran, Bubba Thompson, Sheldon Neuse, Seth Brown, Brett Martin, Shea Langeliers, Dane Dunning, Jordan Lyles, Zach Logue, Mark Mathias
