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Rangers 6, Cardinals 4
ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 6) — The Texas Rangers squeaked past the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 6–4 on Tuesday evening. The crowd of 28,151 was treated to home runs by Nathaniel Lowe and Adolis Garcia as the Rangers won their fifth game in a row. Emotions had to be running high for the Rangers in this contest. Earlier in the day, the decision was made that right-hander Jacob deGrom would undergo Tommy John surgery. This puts an end to his season, so the Rangers might have felt the need to win this game for him. The Rangers go for the sweep in the finale of this three-game set, which will be on Wednesday at 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Jack Flaherty (3–4, 4.55 ERA) will get the starting nod for the Cardinals. Righty Jon Gray (6–1, 2.51) will take the hill for the Rangers.
Early Start for Cardinals
The Cardinals got an early 2–0 lead on the bat of cleanup hitter Nolan Arenado, who blasted a two-run homer to left-center. Brendan Donovan was the man on base at the time. He reached on a single to center earlier to lead off the game. It took a couple of innings for the Rangers’ bats to wake up, but they did so in the bottom of the second. A sharp double to center by Mitch Garver plated Josh Jung. The Rangers tied it in the bottom of the third. Nathaniel Lowe hit his seventh homer of the year to get the smaller-than-usual home crowd back into it.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth. Marcus Semien gave the Rangers a 5–2 lead with a double to right-center. Mitch Garver, Ezequiel Duran, and Leody Taveras all scored on the play. Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth, where the Rangers extended their lead over the Cardinals to 6–2 thanks to Adolis Garcia’s 15th homer of the year. It was a solo shot to left-center. The Cardinals, meanwhile, inched closer in the top of the sixth. Solo home runs by Willson Contreras and Jordan Walker made it 6–4, still in favor of the Rangers.
Pitching Notes
Dane Dunning made his sixth start (14th appearance) of the season on Tuesday, and earned his fifth win (5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 R-ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 HR, 1 HBP, 98 pitches/59 strikes). He has completed five or more innings in each of his six starts since joining the rotation on May 5, tying the longest string of five-plus inning outings of his career (also: April 25 to May 24, 2022). Dunning remains undefeated in his last 10 games (seven starts) against NL opponents, sporting a 4–0, 3.04 mark.
The first-inning homer he allowed to Nolan Arenado marked the first dinger he surrendered since joining the Rangers’ rotation on May 5. Dunning’s three homers allowed Tuesday signified a career high (previous: two, four times, last on September 14, 2022 against the Oakland Athletics). … Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore took the loss in this one. He pitched four innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits while walking two and striking out two. Liberatore also gave up the home run to Lowe. He has lost each of his last two starts: 0–2, 8.00 ERA (8 ER/9 IP), 12 H, 4 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR. Will Smith came in and pitched a perfect ninth. He struck out one upon recording his 11th save of the season.
Semien’s Streak Lives On
Marcus Semien extended his career best and MLB-high 25-game hit streak with his RBI double in the fourth. The hitting streak is now tied for the second-longest in Senators/Rangers franchise history. It is also the longest by a Ranger since a 25-game run by Ian Kinsler from June 17 to July 13, 2008. Semien is three games shy of matching the longest hit streak in franchise history (28 games by Gabe Kapler from July 17 to August 15, 2000). He reached the 50-RBI threshold with his two-bagger, becoming the second Ranger this season to achieve the feat (also: Adolis García). Entering play Tuesday, the only other team to have one player with 50+ RBI was the Houston Astros (Yordan Alvarez).
Twenty Games Over .500
The Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-high five games, securing a sixth consecutive series win. They posted the best 60-game start in franchise history and climbed to a season-best 20 games above .500 (40–20) for the first time since the end of the 2016 season (95–67, 28 games over .500). The Rangers stretched their home winning streak to eight games (beginning May 19), marking its longest-ever streak at Globe Life Field (since 2020). It’s also the longest home winning streak overall since another eight-game run from May 10 to 18, 2017 at Globe Life Park.
Postgame Comments
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy spoke about Dane Dunning’s outing in his postgame media session. Bochy said, “I thought it was a pretty good outing. Dane gave up the two-run homer in the first, but he settled down. He got us to the sixth, and he probably got a little tired. He made a couple mistakes, but he got us to the sixth. It was just a good game overall.”
Bochy was also asked about the amount of fun that his team is having so far. He replied, “That’s how the game should be played. When these guys are having fun, great things happen. It’s just a joy to watch them celebrate out there after each game, and we’re going to keep that same approach for as long as we can.”
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Dane Dunning also spoke on his outing after the game, saying, “I was a little frustrated. I left some pitches elevated and over the plate. There were three pitches that I wish I could take back.” Dunning was also asked what he saw from the bullpen on Tuesday. He paused and said, “They were great. At any point in time, you take whatever success you can get, and they really came through tonight. It was fun to see.”
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