ARLINGTON, Texas (Jul 23) \u2014 (Nate Miller)<\/em> The Texas Rangers<\/a> completed a three-game sweep of the Athletics<\/a> Wednesday, beating them, 2\u20131, in front of a crowd of 27,719. For the second night in a row, Corey Seager<\/a><\/strong> was the hero, as he homered again to propel the Rangers to victory. After an off day Thursday, the Rangers host the Atlanta Braves<\/a> for three to close out this nine-game homestand. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field on Friday. Lefty Joey Wentz<\/a><\/strong> (2\u20131, 5.71 ERA) will take the mound for the Braves, and righty Nathan Eovaldi<\/a><\/strong> (7\u20133, 1.58 ERA) will toe the slab for the Rangers.<\/p>\n As for the Athletics, they’ll continue their road trip with a four-game set against the Houston Astros<\/a>. That series will begin Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm Central at Daikin Park. Right-hander Luis Severino<\/a><\/strong> (3\u201311, 5.10 ERA) will get the ball for the Athletics, while righty Jason Alexander<\/a><\/strong> (1\u20130, 8.40 ERA) will take the hill for the Astros.<\/p>\n The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the third against starter JP Sears<\/a><\/strong>. With two outs, Seager belted a solo homer to center, his 15th of the season and second in as many days. He also doubled in the bottom of the first to extend his on-base streak to 24 consecutive games.<\/p>\n The Athletics responded in the top of the sixth off lefty Patrick Corbin<\/a><\/strong>. Brent Rooker<\/a><\/strong> lined a two-out single to left. Up next was Nick Kurtz<\/a><\/strong>, who plated Rooker with a double to right.<\/p>\n The Rangers took a 2\u20131 lead in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Jack Perkins<\/a><\/strong>. Wyatt Langford<\/a><\/strong> drew a two-out walk before Jonah Heim<\/a><\/strong>‘s shallow fly to left fell between shortstop Jacob Wilson<\/a><\/strong> and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom<\/a><\/strong>. With there being two outs, Langford was running the whole time, so the miscommunication gave the Rangers the go-ahead run.<\/p>\n (Evan Thompson)<\/em><\/p>\n Sears held the Rangers to one run on three hits across five innings, walking none and striking out seven. His lone blemish was the Seager home run.<\/p>\n \u201cHis stuff was really good tonight,\u201d manager Mark Kotsay<\/strong><\/a> said of Sears. \u201cHe’s had success, so there’s some confidence with pitching against this team. But the way he moved the ball around the zone tonight was exactly the message going into this start, and the execution of it tonight was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like I did a good job of moving my fastball around beside the plate,\u201d Sears said. \u201c(Austin Wynn<\/strong><\/a>) did a good job guiding me. I felt like I landed a lot of backdoor sweepers pretty well, too. Felt good, in command of my fastball tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n The success Kotsay referred to was Sears\u2019 record against the Rangers, especially at Globe Life Field. Entering Wednesday\u2019s game, Sears was 6\u20131 all-time in 10 starts against the Rangers with a 3.83 ERA across 54 innings. At Globe Life Field, he was 4\u20130 in six games, all starts, with a 2.91 ERA.<\/p>\n Perkins pitched three innings of relief, walking two and striking out four. The run and hit he allowed weren’t really his fault.<\/p>\n The Athletics had seven hits, three more than the Rangers. However, the only inning where they had more than one was the sixth, when they scored their lone run. They had a chance to score more but stranded runners on the corners. However, it wasn\u2019t for lack of trying. Soderstrom lifted a deep drive to left-center, where center fielder Michael Helman<\/strong><\/a> caught it on a dead run as he crashed into the fence. Kotsay called that a “game-changing” play.<\/p>\n Kotsay also gave credit to Corbin. \u201cHe\u2019s throwing the ball pretty well this year; he\u2019s been tough. Pounded the zone. He was painting edges tonight and mixing speeds on the breaking ball. Think he threw some 75 mph and sped some up. Really mixed his pitches well. So offensively, we didn\u2019t really get much going, and when we did, we weren\u2019t able to get the big hit.\u201d<\/p>\n The lone run and hit allowed by Perkins came on the seventh-inning miscommunication. As mentioned earlier, Heim lofted a fly to shallow left, where Wilson camped under it. He waved off Soderstrom but backed off at the last second, giving Heim an RBI double.<\/p>\n \u201cTough ball right between us,\u201d Wilson said, \u201cand, well, it happens. You learn from it, and you move on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAn outfielder is coming in hard on that particular play,” Kotsay added. “There\u2019s a lot of crowd noise. You gotta make sure to keep your eyes up. But that ball\u2019s gotta be caught. We lost the game tonight, (and) if we had made that play, we might still be playing right now. It\u2019s tough.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we played a good, clean game up to that point. I think that\u2019s the only mistake that we made, and it cost us the game. When you have to be perfect, when you\u2019re not scoring runs a lot, that\u2019s generally what happens in games that you\u2019re on the wrong side of.\u201d<\/p>\n (Nate Miller)<\/em> The Rangers’ offense did their job once again Wednesday. You also have to tip your cap, however, to their pitching staff. They held the Athletics to a single run while working their way out of several traffic jams on the base paths. It’s important to keep in mind that a pitcher doesn’t have to strike everybody out. Keeping your calm with men on base is an even better quality in a pitcher whether he’s a starter or reliever.<\/p>\n The only thing that got in the Rangers’ way on Wednesday was the RBI double by Kurtz in the sixth. Up until then they were cruising through the Athetics’ lineup.<\/p>\n Rangers lefty Patrick Corbin tossed five scoreless innings before failing to complete the sixth, allowing three straight hits with two outs in the frame. He took a no-decision as his final line was 5 2\/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R-ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 69 pitches\/48 strikes. Corbin logged his first outing of seven or more strikeouts and no walks since June 28, 2023 against the Seattle Mariners<\/a> while with Washington Nationals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Making his return from the IL due to a fractured forearm, righty Jon Gray<\/a><\/strong> came on in relief of Corbin in the sixth. He earned his first win of the season after pitching two strong innings, giving up only one hit.<\/p>\n Robert Garcia<\/a><\/strong> allowed one hit and struck out two in the ninth to earn his eighth save of the year. The loss went to Perkins.<\/p>\n After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy<\/strong><\/a> applauded Gray\u2019s journey to this point. \u201cYou get somebody like Gray to help you out, sure, sure, I see that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s good to see him out there. I’m sure he was glad to be back, excited. I did put him in a tough spot, but he handled it well. He’s got the kind of stuff you like late in the ballgame, too. He’s a weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\nSeager Homers Again<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Athletics<\/h4>\n
Pitching<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Athletics<\/h4>\n
Lack of Offense<\/h4>\n
Cross-up in Seventh<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
Corbin Goes Five<\/h4>\n
Bochy\u2019s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>