Pirates Blank Rangers in Middle Game

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

August 20, 2024

Pirates 4, Rangers 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (Aug 20) — The Texas Rangers fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4–0, on Tuesday night in front of a back-to-school crowd of 25,074. Half of the Pirates’ scoring came on a two-run single by Bryan De La Cruz in a brisk contest that lasted a mere two hours and three minutes. The Rangers will go for the series win in the rubber game of this three-game set on Wednesday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Domingo German (0–0, 3.00 ERA) will get the ball for the Pirates, while the Rangers will send lefty Andrew Heaney (4–13, 4.20 ERA) to the hill in the series finale.

Pitchers’ Duel through Three

Both teams went nine up, nine down for the first three frames. The Pirates broke into both the hit and run columns in the top of the fourth. With Rangers lefty Cody Bradford on the mound, former Ranger Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a single to left. Bradford was able to set Bryan Reynolds and Joey Bart down on strikes. Moments later, Kiner-Falefa advanced to third on a ground-rule double to right by Connor Joe. Both runners crossed the plate on a sharp single to center by De La Cruz. This gave the Pirates a 2–0 lead. They promptly extended it to 3–0 on a triple to right by Oneil Cruz that hit the wall over the outstretched glove of a leaping Adolis Garcia. De La Cruz scored on the play.

The Pirates were able to score another insurance run in the top of the ninth. Right-hander Jon Gray was on the mound for the Rangers. He was activated from the 15-day IL on Tuesday upon recovering from a groin injury. After Bart grounded to short to lead off the inning, Rowdy Tellez was brought on as a pinch-hitter for Joe. Tellez doubled on a sharp line drive to right. De La Cruz grounded to short, prompting Gray to give the intentional walk to Cruz moments later. Tellez scored on the next play thanks to a single to left by Jared Triolo.

What Went Right for the Pirates

There are nights when you get all the offense in the world, and there are night when you barely get any. The Pirates fell into the latter category on Tuesday. As previously mentioned, De La Cruz accounted for two of the Pirates’ four runs with his two-run single in the fourth. The Pirates also put on a showcase with their pitching as they held the Rangers scoreless all night long.

What Went Wrong for the Pirates

The Pirates may not have allowed anyone to cross the plate on Tuesday, but they did allow three Rangers to reach base.

Tough Loss for Bradford

Rangers lefty Cody Bradford suffered his first loss of the season despite authoring a quality start. His final line was 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R-ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 96 pitches/71 strikes. Bradford recorded a career high eight strikeouts, and he marked the second-highest strike percentage (74.0%) of any of his 15 career starts. He had a strike percentage of 74.2% on April 5 against the Houston Astros.

He retired each of the first nine batters he faced before surrendering all three of his runs in the top of the fourth. The 26-year-old Bradford has gone 4–1 with a 2.63 ERA, 39 strikeouts, and five walks across seven starts for the Rangers this season, the lowest ERA by any Ranger over the first seven starts of a pitcher who was 26 or younger since Nick Martinez had an ERA of 1.88 in 2015.

Seven Scoreless for Keller

Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller earned the win after punching out a season-high nine batters. His final line was 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 98 pitches/73 strikes. Keller retired the first 11 batters he faced and allowed only three baserunners, his fewest in a qualifying start this season. The Pirates improve to 14–4 in Keller’s last 18 starts, but this was the 28-year-old righty’s first win since July 8 against the New York Mets.

Postgame Comments

A frustrated Bruce Bochy sat down with members of the media after the game to discuss the Rangers’ difficulties with Keller. “Hopefully somebody gets you going, but we couldn’t get guys on base,” Bochy said. “Couldn’t put pressure on him. Keller is a good pitcher, and he got to us tonight.”