ARLINGTON — Wyatt Langford's first home run of his major league career was as emotional as ever. Dane Dunning pitched one of the most efficient 10-strikeout games in baseball history. The bullpen once again finished the game with three consecutive scoreless innings.
Texas Rangers 4, Cincinnati Reds 3, and the home team wins the series. The win dropped the Rangers to over .500 (15-14), entering their second straight Monday off.
Here are four thoughts I took away from Sunday's win.
So does it carry over?: The hope, at least for the Rangers, was that Saturday's 4-run rally in the ninth inning would carry into Sunday's final game.
Sometimes things go according to plan.
Texas scored four runs in the first inning against Cincinnati's left-handed starter Andrew Abbott on Sunday, breaking an alarming drought in the process. Eight of the Rangers' last nine home runs through Sunday were each solo home runs. Texas hit two two-run home runs in the first inning.
Nathaniel Rowe hit a two-out single and Adris Garcia hit a two-run homer into the left field seats to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Jonah Heim hit another base hit and rookie phenom Langford hit a home run into the right field seats to give Texas a 4-0 lead.
Speaking of El Bonbi, The reigning World Series MVP (Corey Seager) is off to a slower start than usual by his standards. The current ALCS MVP (Garcia) is not.
Garcia's first-inning home run was his eighth of the season (third most in the American League), and his 24th and 25th RBI of the season (second most in the AL). The 31-year-old is hitting .294/.345/.598 through 28 games, with a .937 OPS that ranks fifth in the AL and first on the Rangers.
Their best records are: And no, it's not Josh Smith's 16-game on-base streak (which he extended with a full-count walk in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter), but rather Kirby Yates' streak as the Rangers' closer.
Yates, 37, has yet to give up a run in 12 innings pitched this season and has five hits in save opportunities since the Rangers officially moved him into the role on April 15. He allowed just three hits, three walks, and 14 strikeouts. batter.
Jonathan India reached first base with one out in the ninth inning against Yates, and former Ranger Bubba Thompson, a pinch hitter for the Reds, hit a double. Yates then walked Nick Martini on a full count, but struck out Jaymar Candelario and hit a lineout to third base to Luca Maile to end the game.
Jacob Lutz and David Robertson combined to pitch seven and eight scoreless innings. Robertson struck out three batters in the seventh inning and avoided a two-out walk. In the games he pitched in, the Rangers went 12-1.
What happened to these guys?: It's time to add Reds second baseman India to the list of “random opponents who have given the Rangers trouble this season.”
India was 12-8 in three straight games against Texas. He went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in Saturday's game, breaking up Dane Dunning's no-hitter with one out in the fifth inning, and singled off Yates in the ninth inning on Sunday. India, a Florida native like Dunning and Langford, raised his season batting average from .164 to .235 during his time in Arlington.
Others on this esteemed list include Oakland catcher Shea Langeliers, Atlanta catcher Travis d'Arnaud and Detroit outfielder Kelly Carpenter. It's a real killer feud.
Read more of the Dallas Morning News' Rangers coverage here.
