The Rangers kept doing what they’ve been doing best in tight games, and this one ended with another one-run win, 7-6.
Texas is now 18-10 in one-run games this season and has won 11 straight such games. The last one-run loss came on May 27 against the Astros.
MacKenzie Gore had a strange line: good for one inning, rough enough in another to turn the whole outing sour. He worked 5.2 innings, allowed six hits, walked one, and gave up five runs.
Four of those hits and the walk came in the second, when the Braves put up four runs. One of the hits was an Eli White homer.
Gore then gave up a fifth run on a Michael Harris II leadoff homer in the third, right after Texas had clawed back to make it a one-run game.
Gore also hit three batters, which stood out on its own. He had hit only two all season before this game. He became the 10th pitcher to hit three batters in a game this year, and the first Ranger to do it since Kyle Cody in 2021.
Even with the damage in the second and the missed chance to shut things down in the third, Gore still ended up with the win because Texas rallied and took the lead before he left. His last two batters came after back-to-back first-pitch HBPs with two outs in the sixth, which sent Skip Schumaker to Robby Ahlstrom. Ahlstrom handled Drake Baldwin to finish the inning.
That matchup with Baldwin mattered again later. Jakob Junis’ return from the injured list made the late innings a little easier to manage, but Tyler Alexander gave up a run in the seventh to make it a one-run game, and Jacob Latz had to work a four-out save after Junis allowed a two-out single in the eighth. Baldwin is a left-handed hitter, but the split doesn’t really push teams into overthinking it - he’s got an 800 OPS against righties this year and an 810 OPS against lefties, after an 818 OPS against lefties and an 808 OPS against righties last year.
Texas got the first jolt from Joc Pederson, who opened the game with a leadoff homer and finished 2 for 4 before being lifted for pinch hitter Justin Foscue in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out. That was a chance to blow the game open, but Foscue grounded into a double play. The Rangers still held on.
Evan Carter delivered one of the biggest swings of the night, a two-run homer in the sixth that put Texas back in front for good. He finished 2 for 4 with a walk. Wyatt Langford, Josh Jung and Brandon Nimmo also had two-hit nights.
Houston lost, so the Astros are now four games back of Texas. Seattle won, so the Mariners remain a game and a half back.
The radar gun had some pop, too. Gore topped out at 96.2 mph with his sinker and 96.1 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.3 mph and 94.8 mph on those pitches.
Ahlstrom threw one pitch, a 93.9 mph sinker. Alexander reached 92.5 mph with his sinker.
Junis’ fastball got to 93.8 mph, and Latz hit 97.3 mph with his fastball.
A few batted balls jumped off the bat as well. Brandon Nimmo had a 109.4 mph single and a 100.8 mph single.
Pederson’s homer came off at 104.3 mph, and he also had a 102.4 mph single. Jake Burger posted a 103.9 mph fly out and a 102.4 mph single.
Carter’s homer was 101.1 mph, and Ezequiel Duran had a 100.2 mph fly out.
The Rangers won’t be swept in Atlanta. Now they’ll try to take the series.
In Other News...
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The problem is that the Rangers still have to manage the edges of that progress carefully. Carter has been useful enough overall to carry a 1.8 bWAR thanks to his defense, speed and ability to get on base, but the club is still treating him as a platoon bat and limiting his exposure to left-handed pitching. For a team that needs every bit of offense it can find, the question is whether this recent run is the start of something more stable or just another reminder of how fragile the optimism around him still is. [Read more 🡒]