Rangers Walk it Off in Extras against Braves

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Braves 6, Rangers 5 (10 Innings)

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers walked off the Atlanta Braves, 6–5, in 10 innings, to extend the club’s winning streak to five games. It is their longest since a season-high six-game streak from May 10-15. They are now 55–50, reaching five games over .500 for the first time since April 22, where they went 14–9. A walk-off single by Marcus Semien was the crowd-pleaser in this one as it cemented another series win for the Rangers. They’ll go for their second consecutive three-game sweep Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Bryce Elder (4–6, 5.63 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Braves, while righty Jack Leiter (6–6, 4.27 ERA) will take the mound for the Rangers.

Back and Forth

The Braves opened the scoring in the top of the first against right-hander Kumar Rocker. He opened the inning with a walk to former Ranger Jurickson Profar. Matt Olson moved him to second with a single to center. Two batters later, Drake Baldwin walked to load the bases.

Ozzie Albies singled to right, driving in Profar. Olson was thrown out at home on a throw by Adolis Garcia in right. He was originally ruled out by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook, but the Rangers challenged and there turned out to be sufficient evidence to overturn the call.

The Braves scored again in the top of the second. Michael Harris II lined a one-out triple to center. After Nick Allen grounded to third, Harris scored on a single to center by Profar.

The Rangers tied it in the bottom of the second off Braves starter Grant Holmes. Garcia led off with a walk. He scored immediately on a triple to right by Evan Carter, his second of the year.

Carter scored later on a two-out single to left by Josh Jung.

Scary Moments

The Rangers took a 4–2 lead in the bottom of the third. After Josh Smith grounded to first, Corey Seager reached on a single to right.

On deck was Semien. A hit-by-pitch to his head forced him to fall to the ground. After treatment from the Rangers’ training staff, he was thankfully able to rise to his feet and trot down to first. It did this reporter’s heart good to see that after such a scary moment. As much as people love the game of baseball around the world, it will never be more valuable than a human life.

Both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch by Holmes. Up next was Garcia, who scored both runners with a single up the middle.

The Braves cut the lead to one run in the top of the fourth. Albies trotted to first with a leadoff walk. He promptly swiped second for his ninth stolen base of the year. Albies advanced to third with a groundout back to Rocker. Moments later, he scored on a ground-rule double to left-center by Harris.

They tied it in the top of the sixth off reliever Jon Gray on a solo home run by Harris.

The Braves took a 5–4 lead in the top of the ninth off reliever Shawn Armstrong. Harris led off with a triple to left, his fifth of the year. Sean Murphy, pinch-hitting for Allen, scored Harris with a sacrifice fly to left.

Extra Innings

The Rangers tied it in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Raisel IglesiasWith one out, Josh Jung reached on a walk. He was then lifted for pinch-runner Sam Haggerty, who stole second for his 11th stolen base of the year. On deck was Jonah Heim, who drove in Haggerty with a double to right.

In the bottom of the 10th, Enyel De Los Santos came in to pitch for the Braves, and Smith served as the automatic runner at second. Braves manager Brian Snitker gave the four-fingered salute to Corey Seager. That brought up Semien, who plated the winning run with a loud single to left. The sellout crowd of 38,318 went crazy at the sight.

What Went Right for the Rangers

This was one of those “Hurry up and wait” games for the Rangers. They waited for the right time to strike on several occasions, the most notable instance being the Semien single in the 10th. The bullpen also did a nice job by not letting the Braves run away with anything.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The Rangers got into some trouble when it came to Harris. He went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Every one of his at-bats made an impact for the Braves from the lower third of the lineup.

Up and Down Performance for Rocker

Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker battled through four frames, allowing three runs, all earned, with three walks and five strikeouts. He allowed single tallies in the first, second, and fourth stanzas but stranded runners in scoring position in all three frames. His 95 pitches thrown were the most by a Rangers pitcher in a start of four innings or fewer since Max Scherzer on August 20, 2023 against the Milwaukee Brewers (99 pitches in 3 2/3 IP). Rocker still has a 3.72 ERA over his last seven starts since being recalled on June 15. The Rangers are 6–0 this season in Rocker’s starts at home and 1–6 in his starts on the road.

Shawn Armstrong earned his third win of the season, improving to 4–3 on the year with an ERA of 3.02. He pitched the last two innings, surrendering one run, which was earned, on one hit while striking out two.

Holmes’ Outing

Braves righty Grant Holmes, who made his team-leading 21st start of the season Saturday, took a no-decision in his first career appearance against the Rangers. His line was 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R-ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 81 pitches/51 strikes. Holmes is the second Braves pitcher this season to surrender three or more earned runs in three straight appearances multiple times. He is seven strikeouts away from becoming the eighth pitcher to reach 200 career strikeouts with the Braves since 2015.

After yielding the walk-off single to Semien, De Los Santos shouldered his third loss, bringing his record to 3–3 with an ERA of 4.07. He did not record an out and walked one.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

In his postgame press conference, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy gave his reaction to Semien’s night. “What a warrior effort, huh?” he said. “To get hit like that, there’s not too many guys that will stay in the game. You can’t take him out. He’s just hardheaded. He said he was fine. It’s just fitting that he came up there in that situation. It’s amazing how durable he is, and ended up winning the ballgame after getting smoked. So I can’t say enough great things about Marcus. He’s a warrior.”

 

 

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