The Texas Rangers saw their recent domination of the Seattle Mariners come to an end with a 7-3 loss on Saturday.
The Mariners (9-13) pecked away at Rangers (11-10) starter Nathan Eovaldi, scoring four runs in his five innings of work. Only two of the runs were earned, as two runs scored off a throwing error by Ezequiel Duran, who was playing second base because his career numbers were great against Mariners starter George Kirby. He went 2-for-4. But the error hurt.
Texas collected seven hits against Kirby and chased him off after 5.2 innings. The Rangers broke the ice with a solo home run from Josh Jung and scored twoi more runs in the ninth.
The Rangers can still win the series on Sunday in a 3:10 p.m. central start.
Brandon Nimmo’s Milestone
It took until his final at bat, but Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo claimed his 1,000th career hit on Saturday, as he finished 1-for-5 in the loss to the Mariners. He entered the game with 999 hits.
The 32-year-old is going to have to push it if he wants to join one of baseball’s more exclusive clubs. Less than 300 players have reached 2,000 career hits in their career. The Rangers hope he reaches 2,000 by the end of his contract in 2030.
Rangers’ Offense Better Than One Thinks
If there’s a perception that the Rangers’ offense is off to a bad start, it’s likely because Texas isn’t that far above .500. But the reality is far from it.
Last year Texas was terrible in the AL rankings when it came to slugging percentage (No. 13), batting average (No. 12), home runs (No. 12) and on base-plus slugging (No. 13). Through the first 20 games of this season those rankings have flipped. The Rangers entered Saturday’s game ranked third in slugging percentage (.399), fourth in batting average (.240), fifth in home runs (23) and fifth in OPS (.713).
That translates to the Rangers entering that game ranked sixth in the AL in runs per game (4.35) after ranking ninth (4.22) in the category last season. If anything, that exposes the narrow margin between being a playoff team and not being a playoff team.
Now, Texas remains underwater when it comes to home and road splits. The Rangers were .254 on the road and .203 at home entering the game. So, this could explain the improvement. Texas has played 15 road games, tied for the most with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Home games are coming. Texas is going to have to figure out the riddle that has become Globe Life Field soon.
Josh Jung’s Batting Average Starts with a Three
Josh Jung has been on a tear the past couple of weeks and on Saturday he hit rare air for him — a .300 batting average. After going 2-for-4 with an RBI, he was slashing .303/.352/.500 with two home runs and seven RBI.
Given where Jung started the season, seeing him hit .300 should be a boost to the Rangers’ offense. But for Jung, it’s a milestone of sorts. The last time he was batting .300 or better was on, incredibly enough, April 19 of last year when he was batting .304.
So it’s been a year since Jung was batting .300 or better.
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The Texas Rangers wished the Dallas Stars the best of luck in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Stars lost game of their first-round series, Minnesota, 6-1. So, not a great start.
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