The Rangers’ Josh Jung picked up on Wednesday where he left off Tuesday in the series with Seattle, socking away his sixth RBI in just his sixth career at-bat against the Mariners. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Jung’s one RBI didn’t lead to a victory like the five he got in Tuesday night’s 5-0 Ranger win — Texas dropped the contest by a 3-1 tally.
Rangers ace MartÃn Pérez made his 31st — and possibly last — start on the mound this season and covered seven innings of work, giving up three earned runs on five hits while allowing three walks and striking out three others. His record fell to 12-7 with the defeat.
The Rangers loss drops the team to 66-88. With only seven games remaining on the schedule, Perez may get one more pitching starts this season, and, if so, it would tie his second most starts in a season at 32. His career-high 33 starts came in 2016 when he boasted a record of 10-11.
Perez’s extended seven-inning outing on Wednesday allowed Texas to use just two pitchers after using five relief pitchers on Tuesday in the win against Seattle. Joe Barlow handled mop-up duties in a scoreless eighth inning, allowing no hits, two walks, and a strikeout.
The lone Rangers run – batted in by Jung – came via first baseman Nathaniel Lowe after he worked his way around the bases in the first inning. Lowe would end the night going 2-for-4 at the plate, raising his batting average to .305, fourth best in the American League.
Yankee Aaron Judge, who tied Roger Maris’ all-time AL high 61st homer on Wednesday, is tied for the AL batting crown with Minnesota’s Luis Arraez at .313.
Texas will look for the series win against Seattle in the rubber match between the two squads – their last meeting of the season – on Thursday, when the first pitch will fly at 8:40 p.m. CDT.
