A total of six Texas pitchers combined to shut out the Mariners in Seattle on Tuesday night, and rookie Josh Jung supported the Rangers’ offense, knocking in five runs in the 5-0 win.
After the victory, Rangers skipper Tony Beasley explained that Dane Dunning — the game’s projected starter — had suffered a season-ending hip injury and was scratched from the lineup. In Dunning’s stead, Beasley called on relief hurler Jesus Tinoco to start the combined-shutout effort.
“We got through it,” Beasley told MLB.com after the game. “So, it was a good night for us.”
Tinoco pitched two innings of no-hit ball, walking one and fanning two. He gave way to Tyson Miller, who was called up from Round Rock for the game.
Miller tossed 3.2 innings and allowed two hits while walking one and striking out three others. Miller won his first MLB game for his effort, evening his record to 1-1 all-time.
Dennis Santana picked up his 19th hold of the year after walking one batter and retiring one, getting Texas through the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead.
“We got through six and were able to hand the ball off to the three guys that we rely on to finish games for us,” Beasley said of his bullpen.
Matt Moore earned his 14th hold after he kept Seattle off the scoreboard in the seventh.
Jonathan Hernández allowed one hit in his inning of work, and Jose Leclerc walked two and punched out one in the final frame.
On the Rangers’ offense, Jung’s bat stayed hot all night as he hit 3-for-4 at the plate. The San Antonio native and former number one overall pick by the Rangers got his first hit of the game in the second inning, followed by a single in the sixth to score Corey Seager.
His three-run homer in the fifth gave the Rangers a comfortable lead.
Texas moves to 66-87 on the season, which is six games better than the 2021 season with eight games remaining this year. Seattle dropped the first game of their three-game homestand with Texas as they fight to maintain the final AL wildcard wild card playoff spot in which they hold 3.5 game lead ahead of Baltimore.
Texas takes on Seattle in Washington again tonight, Wednesday, September 28, starting at 8:40 p.m. CDT.
Probable starting pitchers for the contest are Martín Pérez for the Rangers, looking for his team-leading 13th win (12-16 and an ERA of 2.90) against George Kirby (7-4, 3.30) for Seattle.
