Josh Sborz was called out of the bullpen Sunday afternoon in a 3-3 tie with Seattle, and with his fellow relievers’ arms weary from a ton of use of late, the 28-year-old righty was electric, leading his team to a 5-3 victory and a 2-1 series win.
Sborz got a start in game one of the three-game set with the Mariners at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Friday night, and the third batter he faced– Mitch Haniger– smashed a line drive back up the middle, beaning Sborz. Sborz made it through the first inning on Friday but left after the first frame.
On Sunday afternoon, he fanned five of the six batters he faced while allowing no hits and a walk on his way to his first win of the season (1-0), lowering his ERA to under five for the first time this year (4.91).
“To see what Sborz did, to step up right there, that was huge– five punchouts– especially that second inning, just getting ahead of guys and wiping guys out,” Rangers skipper Chris Woodward said.
José Leclerc matched the effort as he pitched a flawless ninth, striking out one, on his way to his first save of the season and the 30th of his career.
Ranger’s ace MartÃn Pérez got the start on Sunday and, following a rough start his last time out, pitched six innings in the win against the Mariners, tossing six innings in which he allowed three runs (only one earned), four hits, walked a season-high five, and struck out seven.
The first runs of the contest for Texas came in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the team trailing 1-0. Nathaniel Lowe hit his 19th double of the year to lead off the frame, and Meibrys Viloria followed with a base on balls. Brad Miller singled to right to plate Lowe, and Bubba Thompson singled to score Viloria to give Texas a 2-1 lead.
The Mariners and Rangers would trade a run in the fifth inning (Texas netting a run on a double by Corey Seager, who would eventually score on a wild pitch), and Seattle tied the game 3-3 in the sixth inning on a Seager throwing error.
Seager made amends for this fielding error in the bottom of the seventh as he cracked a two-out double and made his way to third on another wild pitch. Adolis Garcia (0-3 on the night ahead of the at-bat) belted a single to center to score Seager and give Texas a 4-3 lead.
Erik Swanson replaced Matt Brash on the hill for Seattle following the Garcia RBI, and Garcia promptly stole second base for his 17th swipe of the season, putting him in a scoring position. Lowe then drilled his second double of the night to left to score Garcia and pace the Rangers to the 5-3 victory.
Texas moved to 51-63 on the season, good for third in the AL West behind Houston (75-41, best in the AL) and Seattle (62-54) and 9.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League.
Texas hosts Oakland — owner of the worst record in the AL at 41-74 — Monday night, starting at 7:05 in Arlington. Probable pitchers for the contest are Glenn Otto (4-8, 5.20) for the Rangers and James Kaprielian (3-6, 4.38) for the A’s.
