ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 21) \u2014 The Texas Rangers<\/a> got off to a fast start in their series opener against the Kansas City Royals<\/a> on Friday, beating them, 6\u20132, in front of a crowd of 37,678. It was a relatively quiet ballgame until a three-run double by Marcus Semien<\/a><\/strong> lowered the drawbridge in the sixth inning. The Rangers are showing signs of life on this home stand, as they are now 7.5 games behind the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners<\/a>, who lost to the Miami Marlins<\/a>, 3\u20132, on Friday afternoon. That number stood at an even 10 games earlier in the week.<\/p>\n They’ll have an opportunity to run their winning streak to three games in the middle game of this series on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Michael Wacha<\/a><\/strong> (4\u20135, 4.24 ERA) will get the ball for the Royals, while righty Jon Gray<\/a><\/strong> (2\u20133, 3.31 ERA) will take the bump for the Rangers.<\/p>\n The Royals took the lead in the top of the third off Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi<\/a><\/strong>. It came on a solo home run by Kyle Isbel<\/a><\/strong>. The Rangers tied it 1\u20131 in the bottom of the fourth against Royals starter Brady Singer<\/a><\/strong>. Josh Smith<\/a><\/strong> led the inning off with a single to center. He was later tagged out at second on a 5\u20134 force play grounded into by Adolis Garcia<\/a><\/strong>. Next up was Nathaniel Lowe<\/a><\/strong>, who doubled up the middle, plating Garcia in the process.<\/p>\n The Royals responded quickly in the top of the fifth. A leadoff double to left by MJ Melendez<\/a><\/strong> got things started. He advanced to third when Nick Loftin<\/a><\/strong> flied to right. Melendez scored on a single to left by Garrett Hampson<\/a>, <\/strong>who entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Isbel. Isbel had exited earlier in the game with lower back tightness.<\/p>\n The Rangers took over in the bottom of the sixth against Royals reliever John Schreiber<\/a><\/strong>. Garcia led off the frame with a single to center. Lowe followed that up with a ground-rule double to left-center. It was originally ruled a triple, but replay showed that the ball hit above the yellow line on a bounce, overturning the call. Consequently, Lowe had to stop at second as Garcia returned to third. Moments later, Wyatt Langford<\/a><\/strong> brought Garcia home for good on a single to left. On deck was Jonah Heim<\/a><\/strong>, who drove in Lowe by grounding into a 4\u20136 force play, giving the Rangers a 3\u20132 lead.<\/p>\n This forced Royals manager Matt Quatraro<\/a><\/strong> to bring in reliever Sam Long<\/a><\/strong>. Robbie Grossman<\/a><\/strong>, pinch-hitting for Travis Jankowski<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>drew a free pass, sending Heim to second with Leody Taveras<\/a><\/strong> on deck. He moved both runners over with an infield single to third, loading the bases for Semien. Semien lined a sharp double to deep left and plated all three runners to give the Rangers a 6\u20132 lead. Even though the Rangers haven’t had a crowd of fewer than 30,000 this entire home stand, it was never quite as loud over the past week than when Semien hit his double. There was a very healthy mix of excitement and appreciation, as they have been in an offensive dry spell lately.<\/p>\n As previously mentioned, the Rangers are coming to life. It seems like they are enjoying playing baseball again. That was a huge reason why they won the World Series year. Aside from the fact that they are a very talented ball club, they had a lot of fun in 2023. The Rangers are trying to bring that mentality back. While it is true that it’s a job for these guys first and foremost, it helps to have fun with it. Let’s face it, if you can’t have fun playing baseball, there’s something wrong. The Rangers didn’t have any home runs on Friday, but they did have plenty of base runners, and they found ways to get them in.<\/p>\n It’s interesting when the second run that a team scores in a game is driven in by the player who came in as a pinch-hitter for the guy who drove in their first run. That’s exactly what happened on Friday. Isbel hit his homer in the third and Hampson scored Melendez in the fifth. A lot of people in the ballpark were concerned when that happened, but the Rangers had other plans.<\/p>\n Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi earned the win on Friday after producing his fifth quality start of the season. His final line was 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 98 pitches\/63 strikes). Eovaldi’s record now sits at 4\u20133 with an ERA of 3.14. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his eight starts at Globe Life Field this season, joining Kyle Gibson<\/a><\/strong> in 2021 as the only pitchers in Rangers history to permit two or fewer earned runs in each of their first eight home starts of a campaign. Eovaldi has gone 3\u20130 with a 2.22 ERA across eight starts in Arlington this season compared to going 1\u20133 with a 5.06 ERA in four starts on the road. The Alvin, Texas native is 11\u20133 with an ERA of 3.16 over 22 starts in his career at Globe Life Field, including the postseason.<\/p>\n Royals starter Brady Singer did not factor into Friday\u2019s decision in his 15th start of 2024. His line on the evening was 5 IP, 3 H, 1R-ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 HR, 89 pitches\/51 strikes). All three hits he allowed came in the fourth inning, yielding the single run on Langford’s RBI double before stranding the bases loaded. Singer has yet to record a win over the Rangers in his career. He is 0\u20133 in five starts against them. After recording one out and surrendering Semien’s three-run double in the sixth, John Schreiber took the loss, bringing his record to 3\u20132 with an ERA of 4.15.<\/u><\/p>\nRoyals Strike First<\/h4>\n
Rangers Prove to be Royal Pains<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
Five Quality Outings<\/h4>\n
Singer Loses His Voice<\/h4>\n
Bochy’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n