Rangers 8, Athletics 7
ARLINGTON, Texas, Sep 13 — The Texas Rangers clawed their way back to beat the Oakland Athletics in walk-off fashion on Tuesday evening by a final score of 8–7. The walk-off magic came courtesy of Rangers first baseman Mark Mathias, as he broke a 7–7 tie with one swing in the ninth inning at Globe Life Field in front of a crowd of 14,925. The Rangers look to make it three wins in a row in the finale of this short two-game set against the Athletics. That game is set for Wednesday evening at 7:05 PM Central. Lefty JP Sears (5–2, 3.33 ERA) will toe the slab for the Athletics in that contest. The Rangers will counter with right-hander Dane Dunning (3–8, 4.39 ERA).
A’s Offense
It has been a back-and-forth battle to get on the board first for the Rangers as of late. They lost that battle again on Tuesday evening, as the A’s scored in the top of the first inning. Oakland first baseman Dermis Garcia belted a three-run home run to left-center field. The blast was given up by Rangers starter Cole Ragans.
The A’s would not score again until the top of the fourth inning. Their next run was scored by second baseman Jonah Bride, and it was a double by shortstop Nick Allen that drove him in. One batter later, they scored two more runs on a single by centerfielder Cristian Pache. Sheldon Neuse, and Nick Allen were the men on base at the time. The A’s scored their seventh, and final run on another RBI hit by Dermis Garcia. This time, it was a double to left field that drove in Chad Pinder.
Rangers Walk-Off
The Rangers were able to keep it close as the game went on. They scored in the bottom of the first inning on a double to centerfield by Adolis Garcia. Marcus Semien was able to cross home on the play. This made the score 3–1 in favor of the A’s. On deck was Josh Jung. When he got to the plate, he drove in Garcia with a double to centerfield. Four more innings unfolded before the Rangers scored again. Semien scored his second run of the evening on a double by Mark Mathias. Later on the inning, the Rangers scored another two runs on a two-run homer by Adolis Garcia to make the score 7–5.
Then in the bottom of the seventh inning, the modest crowd really went wild, as Mathias hit a two-run homer to tie the game 7–7. The roof at Globe life Life probably would have risen if it hadn’t already been open. That’s how loud it was. As mentioned earlier, Mathias got it done once again in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the game on the line, he stepped to the dish, and blasted a dramatic walk-off home run to left-center field. It was a walk-off win that the Rangers needed badly.
Pitching Notes
Rangers starter Cole Ragans allowed career highs in hits (8) and runs (7), but also had career-best five strikeouts. He remains winless in his first six career major league outings. Brock Burke got the winning decision for the Rangers. He is now 7–3, with an ERA of 1.47. Joel Payamps took the loss for the Athletics. His record for the 2022 season is now 3–5, with an ERA of 2.98. There was no save recorded on Tuesday.
Additional Notes
The Athletics fell to 51—91, and 7–10 against the Rangers this season after blowing a five-run lead (7–2) in Tuesday’s game. They relinquished a season-high in doubles (7) and extra base hits (9). Oakland fell to 2–9 in September, and have now lost ten of their last 12 games overall. They will wrap up their season series with Texas on Wednesday as they have beaten the Rangers seven times this season. That number is their most wins against one opponent this year.
Adolis Garcia hit his 25th home run in the fifthth inning, cutting the Oakland lead to 7–5. He is the second Ranger to reach the 25-home run mark in 2022 (30-Seager). Garcia had three RBI on Tuesday to give him 92 RBI in 2022. It is a new single-season career high (90 in 2021) It’s also the most RBI by a Ranger since Rougned Odor had 93 RBI in 2019. García has home runs in three of last five games overall, including 3 straight at Globe Life Field.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Mark Mathias, JP Sears, Dane Dunning, Dermis Garcia, Cole Ragans, Jonah Bride, Nick Allen, Cristian Pache, Sheldon Neuse, Chad Pinder, Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, Brock Burke, Joel Payamps, Rougned Odor, Josh Jung
