Rangers Beat Sleeping Giants to Avoid Sweep

• June 9, 2024

Rangers 7, Giants 2

ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 9) — The Texas Rangers ended their home stand on a good note, beating the San Francisco Giants, 7–2. The crowd of 35,912 was treated to quite a game that featured a two-run blast by Marcus Semien. This was a very satisfying win for the Rangers on a six-game stretch in which they went 2–4. After an off day on Monday, they head on the road for six games over the next seven days. They’ll begin a crucial three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm Pacific at Dodger Stadium. Starting pitchers for both teams have yet to be announced.

The Giants, meanwhile, will head back to San Francisco for a three-game series against the Houston Astros. That series will begin on Monday evening with first pitch scheduled for 8:45 pm Pacific. The Astros will send right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (3–5, 5.79 ERA) to the mound, and the Giants will counter with lefty Kyle Harrison (4–3, 4.18 ERA).

Aggressive on the Basepaths

Giants starter Keaton Winn gave the Rangers a rude welcome in the bottom of the first. On the first pitch he threw, he hit Semien on the helmet. He appeared to be fine, albeit dazed, as he trotted down to first. He stole second moments before Josh Smith drew a walk. Garcia followed that up with a sharp single to left. After consecutive strikeouts to Nathaniel Lowe and Ezequiel Duran, things got interesting. Semien and Smith both scored on a single by Wyatt Langford, giving the Rangers a 2–0 lead. They pulled off a double steal in which Langford took second and Garcia swiped home to make it 3–0.  The Rangers struck again in the bottom of the second.

More Insurance

Travis Jankowski singled and stole second to lead things off. Leody Taveras struck out swinging to flip the lineup over, bringing up Semien for the second time. He connected and sent one over the wall in left for his 11th home run of the season. The Giants got on the board in the top of the third against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi. He gave up back-to-back singles to Casey Schmitt and Trenton Brooks. Two batters later, Patrick Bailey plated Schmitt with a single to left.

Mike Yastrzemski made it 5–2 with a solo shot to right in the top of the fourth. The Rangers got both of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Smith led off the frame with a walk, setting the table for Lowe, who doubled to left. This prompted the Giants to bring in Randy Rodriguez to relieve Winn. Duran brought both runners home with a single to right.

What Went Right for the Rangers

The Rangers had some fire in them on Sunday at the end of a frustrating series. Semien wasn’t very pleased after getting hit in the head on the first pitch of the opening inning. He channeled that anger into his next at-bat when he homered against Winn. Their four stolen bases by Semien, Langford, García, and Jankowski went a long way in winning this game. It is the most in any one game since July 1, 2023 against the Astros. Sunday marks the first time with four-plus individual players recording at least one steal since May 25, 2022 against the Los Angeles Angels.

Semien, Langford, and García combined for the three stolen bases in the bottom of the first. It’s the club’s most steals in a single inning since June 7, 2022 against the Cleveland Guardians, with three steals in the sixth. The Rangers entered Sunday having recorded multiple steals in an inning eight times in the Bruce Bochy era. García’s steal of home was the third of his career, second-most in club history. Second to Elvis Andrus, who has seven. It was also the team’s first steal of home since September 24, 2021 against the Baltimore Orioles (also García).

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

Although the Rangers managed to keep the Giants at bay, there were uneasy moments along the way. The main one was Yastrzemski’s dinger in the fourth. There was also the run that Schmitt scored in the third. It was vital for the Rangers to keep the runs to a minimum, and they accomplished that task nicely in the Sunday matinee.

Eovaldi Stretches until the Stretch

Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi allowed two runs, both earned, over a season high-tying seven frames. His final line was 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 90 pitches/68 strikes. He earned his first win in over a month and improved to 3–2 with a 2.68 ERA. Eovaldi has 58 strikeouts against 20 walks in starts this season. Sunday’s outing was the longest by a Rangers starter since Michael Lorenzen on May 13 against the Guardians, and Eovaldi’s second ultra-quality start. He has gone 2–0 with a 2.09 ERA across seven starts at Globe Life Field this season compared to a 1–2 record with a 3.93 ERA in three starts on the road.

Winn’s Afternoon

Giants starter Keaton Winn returned from the Injured List to make his first start since May 14 against the Dodgers. He took the loss in this one, bringing his record to 3–7 with an ERA of 6.94. His line on the afternoon was 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R-ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR, 69 pitches/47 strikes. The 26-year-old righty has surrendered five-plus earned runs in his last four starts to spike his season ERA from 3.18. His seven earned runs this afternoon are tied for most by a Giants starter in 2024. Despite shouldering the loss, Winn fanned a season-high seven batters.

Postgame Comments

After the game, Bochy reflected on how well his team did on the bases on Sunday. “We’ve talked about that,” he said. “We need to be a little bit more aggressive there when we can [steal]. And I mean, we don’t want to get reckless but at the same time if we think it’s there, we want these guys to go for it. What a good job they did early in [the] game. They had good reads there, good jumps. Really, everybody’s started going and it worked out well for us.”

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