Rangers Walk-Off in Extras against Royals

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

April 11, 2023

Rangers 8, Royals 5

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Apr 11) — The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals in walk-off fashion on Tuesday at Globe Life Field by a final score of 8–5. Rangers catcher Jonah Heim and his bat were the heroes in this one. Heim hit a dramatic three-run homer in the bottom of the tenth to send the crowd home happy. The series finale of this three-game set is on Wednesday evening at 7:05 pm Central. The Rangers look to complete their second three-game sweep of the season, and they’ll be sending righty Nathan Eovaldi (1–1, 4.22 ERA) to the mound. The Royals will counter with right-hander Brad Keller (1–1, 2.61 ERA).

Seesaw Game

The Rangers held the lead for most of the game. In the bottom of the second, third baseman Josh Jung scored on a single to center by designated hitter Brad Miller. The Royals answered right back in the top of the third. Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. plated center-fielder Kyle Isbel with a double to right. The score would only stay tied for a few moments, however. In the bottom of the third, Nathaniel Lowe plated Marcus Semien to put the Rangers ahead 2–1.

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On deck was Adolis Garcia. He stretched the Rangers’ lead to 3–1 with a sacrifice fly to right that allowed Corey Seager to come home. Seager, incidentally, would exit the game in the bottom of the fifth with tightness in his left hamstring after hitting a double to left. Josh H. Smith was brought in as a pinch runner. The Royals inched closer in the fourth on an RBI single to right by Franmil Reyes that brought home Vinnie Pasquantino. Shortly after the seventh inning stretch, the Rangers added another run on a double to left by Semien that drove in Brad Miller. The Royals got their third run of the evening when Salvador Perez plated Witt Jr. with a single to center. The Royals tied it at four when Kyle Isbel crossed the plate on a single by MJ Melendez. This sent the game into extra innings.

Walk-Off in Extras

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The Royals scored their final run on a sacrifice fly by Michael Massey. This was enough to drive in Jackie Bradley Jr. This put the Royals ahead 5–4. In the bottom of the tenth, fans got even more than they were hoping for. Adolis Garcia tied it 5–5 with an RBI single to center. Marcus Semien was the man on base. Then the big moment came. With two outs and two men on base (Garcia and Jung), catcher Jonah Heim dug in and belted a towering three-run homer deep to right to win the game and the series for the Rangers. This was the first game that went into extra innings at Globe Life Field this year, and the fans couldn’t have been more excited.

Jacob deGrom

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Jonah Heim may have been the player of the game in this one, but Jacob deGrom turned in a very nice outing as well. deGrom did not factor into the decision on Tuesday, despite a dominant performance (ND, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R-ER, 0 BB, 9 SO, 98 pitches/68 strikes). He has gone 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP), 20 strikeouts/2 walks, and a .191 opponents’ BA in his last two starts after allowing a career-high 6 extra-base hits on Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies (3.2 IP, 5 R-ER). He recorded nine strikeouts on Tuesday, bringing his season total to 27.

Postgame Comments

In his postgame media session, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was asked about the resilience of his team on Tuesday. He replied by saying “It was great that we bounced back. That would’ve been a hard one to lose. There were balls that we couldn’t quite get to. There were some little things that didn’t go right. We just couldn’t seem to put them away, but it was nice to finally shut the door on this one, and of course we can’t forget about Jacob (deGrom) and the wonderful game that he threw.” He also went on to elaborate on deGrom’s night. “He’s just got great stuff. You’ve heard me say it before. He threw one slider at 95 (mph). Both his changeup and fastball were working as well,” said Bochy.

In Jacob deGrom’s postgame session, he replied to a question regarding how he was feeling on Tuesday. He responded, “I felt pretty good. There were a couple of pitches I wish I could’ve had back, but we kept our heads in the game and got the win.” Next, he discussed the impact that a win like this has on his team by saying: “It’s a great stepping stone. The offense really picked me up, and tonight was no different. A walk-off win, especially in extras, is always big for your team.”