Rangers Tie Series in Win over Braves

(Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

May 16, 2023

Rangers 7, Braves 4

ARLINGTON, Tex. (May 16) — The Texas Rangers evened their series with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday with a 7–4 win. The bats were the main factor in this one, as Adolis Garcia and Ezequiel Duran each homered in the game. Rangers fans are hoping that this will give the team their momentum back. The finale of this three-game set is on Wednesday evening at Globe Life Field, with first pitch at 7:05 pm Central. It will be a battle of righties as Spencer Strider (4–1, 2.51 ERA) will start for the Braves, and Nathan Eovaldi (5–2, 2.70 ERA) will make his ninth start for the Rangers.

Adolis’ Bat Emerges

The Braves may have struck first in this one, but it was the Rangers’ offense that clicked. The Braves got on the board in the top of the second thanks to a single to right by Orlando Arcia. This allowed Ozzie Albies to score. The Rangers made things interesting in the bottom of the fourth. Robbie Grossman crossed the plate on a double to right to tie it 1–1. Next up was Adolis Garcia, who brought Lowe home with his 11th homer of the year. It was a line-drive shot that went to the seats in right.

The Rangers extended their lead to 4–1 in the bottom of the sixth. Jonah Heim plated Garcia with a single to right. It may have looked like an ordinary RBI single on the box score, but this single extended Heim’s current hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. Moments after the seventh inning stretch, Marcus Semien stretched the Rangers’ lead over the Braves with a single to left. Leody Taveras scored on the play. Grossman promptly drove home Semien with a single of his own that went to left. Ezequiel Duran gave the Rangers some insurance with a homer in the eighth to make it 7–4 Rangers. Three of the Rangers’ runs were given up by Braves starter Jared Shuster, and three were given up by righty Dylan Lee. Right-hander Joe Jimenez gave up their seventh run.

Braves Fight Back

Just when it was looking like the Rangers were cruising to the easy win, the Braves made a bit of a comeback. A solo homer by Ronald Acuña Jr. gave the Braves their second run of the evening. Two batters later, Sean Murphy followed suit with a two-run blast to right to shrink the Rangers’ lead to 6–4. That is where the Braves’ offense ended for the evening. The Braves have now lost five of their last six games after winning six of their previous seven. At 26–16, the Braves still own the second-best record in the National League. They also hold a five-game lead over the Miami Marlins in the National League East.

Hot Streak

As previously mentioned, Rangers catcher Jonah Heim extended his career-best 14-game hitting streak with an RBI single in the sixth. Heim’s streak is the longest active run in the majors, and is tied for the longest by a Ranger in 2023 (also 14, Grossman from April 16 to May 6). The only longer hit streak is 23 by Adolis García from August 3 to 27, 2022.

Pitching Notes

Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning improved to 4–0 on the season after spinning a quality start tonight (6 IP, 6 H, 1 R-ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 92 pitches/60 strikes), and has now registered a quality start in each of his last two outings (also 6 IP, 2 ER on May 10 against the Seattle Mariners). He has gone 2–0 with a 1.59 ERA (3 ER/17 IP) and 12 SO/2 BB in 3 starts since slotting into the rotation at the beginning of this month. Dunning has yet to allow a home run through 11 G/3 GS (37 1/3 IP) this season, as just 6 of the 26 hits he has allowed in 2023 have gone for extra bases (all doubles).

Braves starter Jared Shuster took his second loss of the season (5 IP, 3 H, 3R-ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, HR, 66 pitches/42 strikes) after being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before Tuesday’s game. It was his third start of the season, as he is still searching for his first win in the big leagues. The five innings pitched mark a career high, while the 66 pitches are a career low. The home run given up to Adolis García in the bottom of the fourth was his first career homer allowed. The Braves own an 0–3 record in all three of Shuster’s starts.

Postgame Comments

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy met with members of the media after the game, and he felt encouraged by Dane Dunning’s outing. He said, “Dane did a great job for us tonight. He looked a little strong early. His stuff was there, and he just got better with his command as the game went along. That’s a tough lineup to navigate through, and he made some great pitches and kept us in the game.”