In the first three innings, the Rangers tallied seven runs in front of a sellout crowd at Globe Life Field in Arlington, earning Texas a 7-3 win over the Braves and taking the three-game series 2-1.
The Rangers started their scoring barrage in the bottom of the first when Mitch Garver knocked in Adolis Garcia, who had made his way on base via a single to right field for a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Texas struck again. Andy Ibanez led the inning off with a walk, and Charlie Culberson advanced the runner to second on a base hit. Eli White then earned a base on balls to load the bases. Marcus Semien and Garcia hit into fielder choices in the next two at-bats, each driving in a run (Ibanez and Culberson, respectively) to give Texas a 3-0 lead.
The Rangers would put the game away in the bottom of the third after scoring four more runs and pushing the lead to 7-2 one-third of the way through the contest.
Nick Solak started the bottom of the third with a single, and Nathanial Lowe worked his way on board with a walk. Solak stole third base following a pop-out by Ibanez putting runners on the corners for Texas.
Ranger Charlie Culberson was next to the plate, and the second pitch he saw, he bunted. Culberson was thrown out at first on the sacrifice bunt, scoring Solak to give Texas a 4-2 lead.
Semien followed teammate Eli White’s strikeout with a walk, loading the bases for Garcia. (Ahead of Garcia’s at-bat, the Braves pulled Jesse Chavez from the mound and replaced him with Kyle Muller to face Garcia.)
Garcia worked the count to 2-2 before smacking a sharp line drive to right field, which resulted in a triple, clearing the bases and giving Texas a commanding 7-2 lead.
“We haven’t really had a big inning like that separated [us] in a while,” Texas Rangers Manager Chris Woodward told MLB.com. “Adolis has been looking really good lately. He’s voicing his understanding of what he’s trying to accomplish and every at-bat is executed. There’s a lot more dedication to going out there with a plan. I think he’s reaping the benefits.”
Texas got another strong outing from their starting pitching in the final game of the series against Atlanta as Taylor Hearn – A Royse City, Texas native – pitched five innings, allowed two earned runs on four hits, three walks while fanning five. Hearn won his first game of the season and pushed his record to 1-2 on the season.
Matt Moore held the lead for Texas, pitching two scoreless innings while fanning three.
Moore was followed on the hill by John King – one inning pitched, no runs, and one hit – and Matt Bush, who allowed one run in the ninth inning.
The Texas win moves the Rangers to 8-14 and drops the defending MLB champion Braves to 10-13.
The crowd in attendance – a sellout – clocked in at 38,316 on a day when the stadium roof was closed and the game-time temperature was 75 degrees.
The Rangers have a travel day on May 2 as they head to Philadelphia for a two-game series with the Phillies before starting a three-game set with the New York Yankees on Friday, May 6.
