ARLINGTON, Texas (Aug 13) \u2014 The Texas Rangers<\/a> collapsed inches from the finish line as they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, 6\u20134, Wednesday afternoon. James McCann<\/a><\/strong> and Ketel Marte<\/a><\/strong> both helped the Diamondbacks\u2019 cause by hitting a homer apiece in the eighth to leapfrog the Rangers on the scoreboard. With this nine-game homestand behind them, the Rangers embark on a seven-game road trip beginning with three against the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>. That series will begin Friday with first pitch scheduled for 7:07 pm Eastern. It will be a duel of righties as Jacob deGrom<\/a><\/strong> (10\u20135, 2.86 ERA) will take the hill for the Rangers, and Chris Bassitt<\/strong><\/a> (11\u20136, 4.17 ERA) will get the ball for the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n As for the Diamondbacks, they\u2019ll head to the Mile High City for four games against the Colorado Rockies<\/a>. That set will begin Thursday evening with first pitch scheduled for 5:40 pm Mountain Time. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong> (4\u20137, 5.68 ERA) will make his 21st start for the Diamondbacks, while righty Bradley Blalock<\/a><\/strong> (1\u20133, 7.89 ERA) will get the ball for the Rockies.<\/p>\n The Rangers got on the board in the bottom of the first against Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen<\/a><\/strong>. Josh Smith<\/a><\/strong> led off with a single to left. Corey Seager<\/a><\/strong> followed with a fly-out to center, bringing up Marcus Semien<\/a><\/strong>. He drew a walk. Two batters later, Evan Carter<\/a><\/strong> singled to right, scoring Smith in the process.<\/p>\n Carter was activated from the 10-day IL (back spasms) prior to Wednesday’s game.<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks knotted things up at one run apiece in the top of the third off a familiar face in Merrill Kelly<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Geraldo Perdomo<\/a><\/strong> was issued a two-out free pass. He promptly stole second for his 19th stolen bag of the year. Up next was Marte, who scored Perdomo with a line drive single to left.<\/p>\n The Rangers took a 3\u20131 lead in the bottom of the fourth.<\/p>\n A leadoff double to center by Carter set the table for Burger, who launched a two-run home run to left-center, his 12th of the season.<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks responded in the top of the fifth with a two-out solo blast by Perdomo.<\/p>\n An insurance run in the bottom of the eighth extended the Rangers’ lead to 4\u20132.<\/p>\n With two outs, and John Curtiss<\/strong><\/a> pitching for the Diamondbacks, Burger singled to right to bring up Josh Jung<\/strong><\/a>. He scored Burger with a double up the middle, his 12th of the season.<\/p>\n In an odd turn of events, the Diamondbacks took a 6\u20134 lead in the top of the ninth off reliever Phil Maton<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n James McCann hit a two-out solo home run to left. Blaze Alexander<\/a><\/strong> followed with a hit-by-pitch from Maton.<\/p>\n Up next was Perdomo, who drew a walk. That brought up Marte, who blasted a three-run shot past the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center.<\/p>\n At one point, the Diamondbacks were behind, 3\u20131. They scored on a lot of the chances they were given. The one that really hurt the Rangers was Perdomo\u2019s three-run dinger in the eighth.<\/p>\n It might be safe to say that the Diamondbacks won\u2019t be eating burgers for a while. Jake Burger<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s two-run home run in the fourth was a bit of a blow to the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n Rangers starter Merrill Kelly recorded a quality start in his first career outing against his former club. His line was 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 98 pitches\/61 strikes. He scattered three singles during his first two passes through the D-backs order, with an RBI knock in the third being the lone blemish in that stretch.<\/p>\n Kelly conceded hits to four straight batters with two outs in the fifth, but was picked up by Ezequiel Duran<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> inning-ending outfield assist that ended further damage. He coasted through a 1-2-3 sixth frame to close his outing. Kelly has allowed two in six of his last seven starts, with Quality Starts in four of those seven starts. He has a 2.88 ERA in that span.<\/p>\n Maton shouldered the loss after giving up both homers in the eighth. That brings his record to 2\u20134 with an ERA of 3.02.<\/p>\n Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen did not factor into the decision after allowing three runs, all earned, in five innings. His line was 5 H, 2 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 98 pitches\/61 strikes. He allowed runs in the first and fourth innings, including the Burger homer. His one strikeout was a season low<\/p>\n Gallen snapped a streak of four starts in which he had worked exactly six frames. He still has a 3.18 ERA over his last three starts to drop his season ERA from 5.60 to 5.31.<\/p>\n Curtiss walked away with the win, improving his record to 2\u20130 with an ERA of 4.19. He gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits. He also walked one.<\/p>\n After tossing a 1\u20132\u20133 ninth inning, Saalfrank notched his first save of the season.<\/p>\n After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy<\/strong><\/a> scratched his head before trying to explain this game. \u201cIt just got away from us there in the ninth,\u201d he said. \u201c[Maton] was locked in, he had nine straight strikes, I think, and he’s lost his feel there a little bit. That’s a tough one, to be two outs in the ninth. Those are always tough. They sting when you lose, like we did today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve got to bounce back,\u201d Bochy continued. \u201cIn this game, you\u2019ve gotta be resilient. I keep talking about that. We\u2019ve gotta put this behind us. There’s baseball left, but we gotta win games.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\nWelcome Back Mr. Carter<\/h4>\n
Not So Fast<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Diamondbacks<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Diamondbacks<\/h4>\n
Quality Start for Kelly<\/h4>\n
No-Decision for Gallen<\/h4>\n
Bochy\u2019s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>