The Rangers left Atlanta with one win in three games, but Sunday’s finale was a rough way to close the weekend. Texas put up five runs, yet the Braves had already done enough damage early and kept adding on in an 8-5 win.
Nathan Eovaldi got the start for Texas after dealing with a sickness that pushed him to Sunday, and the Braves wasted little time making him work. Atlanta scratched out a run in the first, then followed with solo homers in the second, third, and fourth innings. Eovaldi never made it back out for the fifth.
Drake Baldwin was at the center of just about everything Atlanta did. By the end of the fourth inning, the Braves catcher had three hits, a home run, a stolen base, two runs scored, and what the source material described as his 84th RBI against the Rangers this weekend. He added a single in the sixth and another homer in the eighth.
Texas did manage one real push. The Rangers broke through for three runs in the top of the fifth against Grant Holmes, but the rally stalled with the tying run on second base. One inning later, they had two runners in scoring position and came up empty again, and after that the Atlanta bullpen shut the door on anything meaningful.
The game got away in the bottom of the seventh, when the Rangers failed to tie it and then let the defense unravel. Atlanta scored three more runs after a botched rundown and shaky infield decisions, and Austin Riley had his third hit of the day in the middle of it. Riley finished with two of Atlanta’s four home runs and four RBIs.
Texas did score once more after the outcome was already settled, and Baldwin answered right back with his second homer of the day.
The Rangers’ lone win in the series probably fit the shape of the matchup, and they still left having allowed 29 runs over the three games.
Wyatt Langford was one of the bright spots for Texas, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs, and a home run for the Rangers’ fifth and final run. Drake Baldwin was the clear Player of the Game.
Next up, Texas opens a series against the Chicago White Sox. That looked like a softer landing spot before the season, but the White Sox now lead the American League Central. RHP Jacob deGrom is expected to make his first start of the second half against RHP Erick Fedde.
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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 🡒]