The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the San Diego Padres scored six runs in ten innings.
Miracles are real but be careful what you wish for. The Rangers didn’t allow a home run in the first inning for the first time during this entire homestand. Better yet, they didn’t even allow a run altogether in the first inning.
In fact, today’s starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore made it all the way until the top of the third inning before allowing a run. Ultimately, that was the only run that Gore allowed in his six innings of work.
Even though the Rangers scored nine runs yesterday in a show of defiance from the notion that they fold after trailing early in games, today they didn’t score until the bottom of the sixth when Wyatt Langford doubled in a run to tie the game. An inning later, Jake Burger broke the tie with a two-run home run to put Texas up 3-1.
A two run lead in a 3-1 game heading into the eighth inning seemed like smooth sailing to a victory but the Rangers can’t use Jacob Latz for a multiple inning save every day so Cole Winn was tasked to be today’s setup man.
Winn hasn’t had much success in that role, or any other this season, and he immediately coughed up the lead albeit with some poor defense behind him and an assist from Tyler Alexander as well. Luckily the Rangers left the inning with the game tied 3-3 but all that really did was make Mason Miller a looming adversary toward victory.
Latz did eventually pitch a scoreless ninth on 13 pitches but the Rangers couldn’t manage a walk-off in the bottom of the inning which meant they played extra innings for just the third time this season.
Having used their Latz bullet, in the tenth the Rangers had Joe Ross and the Padres had Miller so, uh, you can pretty much guess how that went. Ross walked the first hitter who was trying to give himself up with a bunt and then Manny Machado followed with a three-run home run, driving in his fifth of San Diego’s six runs.
The Rangers scored their free Manfred Man off Miller but lost their fourth game in five tries on this homestand. It was also their first extra inning loss of the year in three instances. No first inning disasters for Texas today. They saved ’em for the first and only inning of extras.
Player of the Game: It’s funny. Had the Rangers won 3-1 after Burger’s home run, I probably would have said Burger deserves the nod. But the Rangers lost so I’ll say Gore’s six innings of one-run ball after starting in place of Nathan Eovaldi seems more appropriate here.
Up Next: The Rangers and Padres will close out the series tomorrow with neither team yet knowing who will make the start.
The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.
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