With Texas Rangers bats struggling at home, Kyle Gibson, defense hold on for walk-off
The scene was as about as picturesque as a baseball game can be.
A bright blue, sun-filled sky with temperatures in the mid-60s Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field. A little more than 24,000 were on hand, too, to see the Texas Rangers’ series finale against the Baltimore Orioles.
Only one problem.
The Rangers have been struggling to win at home.
And for much of the afternoon, you had the feeling their streak of five consecutive home losses was going to reach six.
But Nate Lowe’s base-loaded, opposite-field single with two outs in the 10th inning gave the Rangers a 1-0 walk-off win.
The Rangers are now 3-6 at home this season. They start a three-game series against the Angels on Monday in Anaheim.
“The offense hasn’t really clicked at home. I know there were some plays that could have been made and possibly scored some runs [earlier], but the fight is what’s most important to me. To see these guys continuing to fight for each other is everything.”
The Rangers had plenty of chances earlier in the game to push a run across but were thwarted, mostly by left-handed starter John Means, who struck out nine over seven scoreless innings.
As good as Means was, Rangers starter Kyle Gibson was better.
The right-hander pitched his best game of the season while holding the Orioles scoreless on four hits over eight innings. After a first-inning double by Anthony Santander, Gibson limited Baltimore to two singles before Ramon Urias’ bases empty, two-out double in the eighth. Gibson forced a groundout to end the inning and his day. He walked none and struck out six.
Meanwhile, the Rangers’ offense kept wasting scoring opportunities.
After Jose Trevino started the fifth inning with a double off the left-field wall, the scoring chance was squandered. He moved to third on Charlie Culberson’s groundout and the Rangers had runners on the corners with one out after Eli White’s walk. But Leody Taveras struck out on a changeup and Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined out to center on the first pitch he saw.
In the sixth, Nick Solak led off with a single but was promptly thrown out trying to steal second before Nate Lowe walked. Two more groundouts helped fizzle that inning.
Again in the eighth, a leadoff, pinch-hit single by Willie Calhoun netted nothing. After Kiner-Falefa moved Calhoun to second base with a sacrifice bunt, Solak walked to give the Rangers runners on first and second with no outs. But Lowe lined out to left and Adolis Garcia flied to right to end the inning.
“I think we expanded [our strike zone] a few times, but the more we’re in those spots the more we’re going to learn,” manager Chris Woodward said of the missed opportunities. “Overall, I was pleased with some of the at-bats, especially in crunch time.”
Texas was 16-14 at home a year ago during the first season at Globe Life Field. That was about the league average for the pandemic-shortened season, which was played without fans in attendance.
Woodward cautioned that it’s too early to make anything of the record at home.
“We’ve pitched well here, we just haven’t hit here,” he said. “So have to figure out how our offense has to run in this ballpark because it’s a great place to hit. We have to figure it out obviously because we’re going to play half our games here.”
Gibson’s eight innings are the longest outing by a Rangers starter at Globe Life Field and longest scoreless outing by a Texas pitcher since he threw a shutout in Houston in September.
The only other starting pitcher for any team (regular and postseason) to go deeper than eight innings at Globe Life Field was the Padres’ Joe Musgrove, who no-hit the Rangers on April 9. The ballpark hosted postseason baseball in 2020, including the World Series.
It wasn’t just Gibson and the bullpen, which included scoreless innings of relief by Ian Kennedy and John King. The Rangers’ defense also came up huge late in the game. At moments, Globe Life Field showed off how loud it can get even on a lazy, cool Sunday afternoon.
“It’s so awesome being here in this beautiful stadium and seeing the fans coming out and supporting us,” said Jose Trevino, who won the team’s Cowboy Hat after the win. “You feel the energy. It gives me goosebumps being able to look in the outfield and seeing so many people here. Gibby did what Gibby is supposed to do.”
In the 10th, Calhoun made a diving catch to his left in left field to prevent an Orioles run. Maikel Franco started the inning on second base, per the league’s extra-inning, automatic base runner rule.
Moments later, Adolis Garcia threw out Franco on a single to right field. Franco, who had moved up to third on a flyout to left, likely had a bad read on the ball and wasn’t sure if it was going to fall in front of Garcia. Garcia’s throw easily beat Franco to Trevino, who received the ball up the line a bit in front of home plate and held on during the collision with Franco.
“I think wins like this for our team are huge,” said Gibson, whose earned-run average dropped to 2.53 from 4.05. “When you lose the first two and you feel like you had a chance to win each game, sometimes you can have that slump move into the third game and allow that to kind of set the tone for that third game and you end up giving up a sweep. [This was] more of a team-building type of win.”
