The Texas Rangers’ Much-Needed Win
CHICAGO — It does not matter that Sunday’s sweep-stopping win came against a last-place team that’s only one season removed from one of the worst in modern baseball history.
It does not matter that it was preceded by six losses, five of which were on the road, most of which were miserable.
It does not matter that it took a ninth-inning rally, opponent miscues and a little luck from the launch-angle and exit-velocity gods to keep a would-have-been walkoff home run inside the ballpark.
The Texas Rangers, now one-third of the way through a so-far frustrating season, are not concerned with the general specifics of Sunday’s 5-4 win vs. the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field.
Rangers
They just had to have it.
“If there ever was a sanity game,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “This one was it.”
The Significance of the Win
This one snapped a six-game losing streak and helped Texas avoid its first winless road trip in four years. Here’s the reality: The difference between a zero-win road trip and a one-win road trip is statistically marginal. The Rangers are still at fourth place in the American League West standings. They still have a bottom-five offense, according to most major metrics. They still have more questions than answers after the 54th of their 162 regular-season games.
Yeah, but, still.
“You come here, you want to hopefully win the series, and after the first two it kind of does feel like a must-win,” first baseman Jake Burger said. “We’ve got to go out there and get a dub by any means necessary.”
The Ninth-Inning Rally
The means included a ninth-inning rally keyed by the most cohesive string of at bats that the Rangers put together in the entire series. The Rangers, down 3-2 in the top of the ninth vs. Chicago closer Jordan Leasure, came from behind and scored three runs to take the lead late.
Third baseman Josh Jung, who’d already reached base twice, was struck on the forearm by a pitch to lead off the inning. Burger followed with a double — his second extra base hit of the game after a 114.7 mph two-run home run in the second inning — and catcher Kyle Higashioka scored Jung from third on a ground ball that was fumbled on both ends of Chicago’s defense.
White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas bobbled Higashioka’s batted ball and first baseman Lenyn Sosa’s foot was off the bag when he received the throw. Jung scored on the play to tie the game at 3-3 and Higashioka reached first base safely.
The Game-Winning Hit
The next at-bat was squarely in Texas’ control. Right fielder Adolis García squared up on a Leasure slider and clubbed it 105.6 mph into left-center field for a two-run double that cleared the bases and gave the Rangers a 5-3 lead.
It was just García‘s second extra base hit since May 15 and it was the Rangers’ only hit with with runners in scoring position Sunday. They entered play with a .214 batting average with runners in scoring position that ranked second to worst in all of baseball.
“It feels good,” said García, who was shifted down from the heart of the order into the eight hole to start this series. “It feels so good because we got the win. That’s the only thing that matters now. I don’t care if I’m struggling or anything; if we win, it doesn’t matter.”
Closing Out the Game
Ditto for left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia. He closed Sunday’s game and made it an eventful sight in the process. Edgar Quero reached on a leadoff double and scored two batters later on a Michael A. Taylor double to cut the Rangers’ lead to a single run.
Garcia kept his head on a swivel, though, and made a quick spin on the mound to pick Taylor off in between second and third base. In his next at-bat, vs. No. 9 hitter Vinny Capra, Garcia left a slider over the heart of the plate that was rocked 346 feet to left field.
The ball, which was hit 100.3 mph at a 37-degree angle, was a skosh too soft and tall to escape the yard. Left fielder Alejandro Osuna was able to camp underneath it at the warning track and make the catch just feet shy of the fence for the game’s final out.
Plus, Marc Church is sent on a rehab assignment and a Plano West product is signed.
On Monday, the Rangers lost for the 11th time this season in a game in which they allowed three or fewer runs.
Monday marked the sixth loss in the last seven games for the Rangers.
