ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 22) \u2014 The Texas Rangers<\/a> dropped their series opener to the New York Mets<\/a>, 6\u20133, Tuesday night. Brett Baty<\/a><\/strong> drove in an insurance run with a double in the seventh that helped put the game out of reach for the home nine. With this loss, the Rangers are once again tied for the AL West lead with the Houston Astros<\/a>, 7\u20130 winners over the Seattle Mariners<\/a>, Tuesday night. The Rangers will try to force a rubber game with the Mets Wednesday with first pitch set for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Nolan McLean<\/strong><\/a> (11\u201310, 3.18 ERA) will take mound for the Mets, while the Rangers have yet to announce a starter for the middle game.<\/p>\n Both teams traded zeroes for the first two innings of Tuesday’s contest. The Mets broke the tension against lefty MacKenzie Gore<\/a><\/strong>. Francisco Alvarez<\/a><\/strong> led things off with a double to center. After A.J. Ewing<\/a><\/strong> flied to left and Luis Torrens<\/a><\/strong> grounded to second, respectively, Francisco Lindor<\/a><\/strong> drew a walk. Alvarez scored on a single to center by Juan Soto<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Rangers knotted things up in the bottom of the third off left-hander Sean Manaea<\/a><\/strong>. He walked Danny Jansen<\/a><\/strong> to start the frame before striking out Wyatt Langford<\/a><\/strong> swinging. A passed ball by Torrens behind the plate moved Jansen to second. On deck was Josh Jung<\/a><\/strong>, who drove in Jansen by lining a double to right.<\/p>\n The Mets regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Carson Benge<\/a><\/strong> set the table with a ground-rule double down the line in left. After former Ranger and 2023 World Series champion Marcus Semien<\/a><\/strong> lined to left, Alvarez reached on a fielding error by former Met Brandon Nimmo<\/a><\/strong> in right. Both he and centerfielder Ezequiel Duran<\/a><\/strong> were running for the ball and they got crossed up, causing the ball to drop out of Nimmo’s glove. Benge scored on the play.<\/p>\n The Rangers took a 3\u20132 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Nimmo led off with a single, and Duran followed with a walk. On deck was Justin Foscue<\/a><\/strong>, whom Manaea hit with a pitch to load the bases. Up next was Elias Diaz<\/a><\/strong>, who plated Nimmo with a sacrifice fly to left. Duran scored a moment later thanks to another sacrifice fly to left, this one coming from Langford.<\/p>\n The Mets took the lead once again in the top of the sixth off Nathan Eovaldi<\/a><\/strong>, on in relief of Gore. Baty pinch-hit for Mark Vientos<\/a><\/strong> to start the inning and doubled sharply to center. Benge followed with a free pass. Baty was called out on a force play grounded into by Semien that was fielded by Jung at third. Benge and Semien scored on a double to center by Alvarez. Up next was Ewing, who drove in Alvarez with a pop-up to first baseman Jake Burger<\/a><\/strong> in foul territory.<\/p>\n The Mets made it 6\u20133 in the top of the seventh against reliever Robert Garcia<\/strong><\/a>. Bo Bichette<\/a><\/strong> reached on a one-out walk. He was tagged out at second on a 6\u20134 force play grounded into by Baty, who scored courtesy of a double to right by Benge.<\/p>\n The Mets applied pressure in this game. They kept finding timely ways to score. The RBI double by Baty in the seventh seemed to deflate the Rangers as they never got anything going from that point on. The two-run double by Alvarez in the sixth gave them the lead.<\/p>\n The Mets’ pitching staff held the Rangers to only three hits, none of which came after the fourth inning.<\/p>\n The Mets ran into a problem in the third when Manaea gave up the run-scoring double by Jung. The sacrifice flies by Diaz and Langford also rippled the water a little, but the Mets prevailed.<\/p>\n Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore made his AL-leading 33rd start of the season and did not factor into the decision despite tossing five innings of two-run ball. One run was earned. Gore was tagged for runs in the third and fourth innings, although the tally in the fourth came from the Nimmo error on a fly that could have ended the inning.<\/p>\n Head Athletic Trainer Matt Lucero<\/strong><\/a> went out to visit Gore, along with manager Skip Schumaker<\/a><\/strong> and pitching coach Jordan Tiegs, following a two-out walk to Lindor in the third, but Gore remained in the game. He concluded his night by executing a successful challenge to overturn a potential ball four to strike three on Bichette for the final out of the fifth. Tuesday marked Gore\u2019s second successful challenge of the season (now 2-for-4). He is the only Rangers hurler with multiple overturns in \u201826 (Baseball Savant). Gore has a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts at Globe Life Field this season.\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n Eovaldi shouldered the loss and blown save after pitching an inning of relief. He surrendered three runs, all earned, on three hits and one walk. His record now sits at 11\u201310 with an ERA of 4.27.<\/p>\n Mets starter Sean Manaea improved to 6\u20137 after tossing six innings. His line was 3 H, 3 R-2 ER, 2 BB, and 9 K, his second-most strikeouts in a game this season. He fanned 11 on at August 9 at the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a>. Manaea made his first quality start since pitching seven stanzas with one earned run in that game. He struck out the side in order in the first on 13 pitches. Manaea escaped a two-on, one-out situation in the second before being tagged for an unearned run on the passed ball by Torrens that advanced Jansen to second on the Jung RBI double in the third.<\/p>\n Right-hander Kodai Senga<\/strong><\/a> closed out the game, earning his eighth save of the year. He pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.<\/p>\n After the game, Schumaker reflected on Gore’s night. “He grinded that out,” Schumaker remarked. “He gave everything he had today. It was an impressive outing. I thought he did enough. He thought he did enough as well. It wasn’t five innings coming out with the lead. I thought he did a really, really good job of giving us everything he had.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\nRangers \u2014 Mets Game Summary<\/h4>\n
Back and Forth<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Mets<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Mets<\/h4>\n
Gore Tosses Five Innings<\/h4>\n
Manaea’s Evening<\/h4>\n
Schumaker’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>