Kohei Arihara and Taylor Hearn combined on a four-hit shutout in Minnesota on a Saturday afternoon which saw every Texas starting batter reach base in a 7-0 victory.
Arihara spread four hits over six innings in the win and was relieved by Hearn in the bottom of the seventh after allowing back-to-back base runners to lead the inning for the Twins.
Arihara evened his record on the season to 1-1 after a rocky start in his first appearance of the year.
“I was a lot more relaxed and got into a rhythm quickly,” Arihara said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara, MLB.com reports. “I had a lot of quick outs here and there, and my defense behind me did a fantastic job, so I was able to get a good outing.”
The 30-year-old righty has compiled a career record of 60-51 with a 3.81 ERA in his 133-game minor league career, including a 3-6 record at Round Rock this season, where he pitched as a starter and reliever, boasting an ERA of 4.88.
Minnesota starting pitcher Joe Ryan was pitching a perfect game into the fourth inning until Marcus Semien blasted a 3-1 fastball 419 feet into the bleachers at Target Filed. Semien’s run would be all needed for the day. However, the Ranger hit parade commenced.
Semien and Brad Miller each had two hits and three RBI, while Nathan Lowe raised his batting average to.295 with a two-hit day that included his 18th homer of the season, a rocket to right field in the eighth inning.
Hearn earned his first career save after dialing in for three perfect innings and fanned five of the nine batters he faced, including two Minnesota batters in the top of the sixth he inherited in Arihara’s departure in the top of the sixth.
Adolis Garcia extended his 17-game hitting after legging out an infield single in the seventh inning. Garcia’s mark for hitting consecutively is fourth best in the American League.
The win was the second straight for Texas and moves the team to 4-3 under interim manager Tony Beasley and 55-66 on the year as they will look for a 3-1 series win tomorrow in the Twin Cities.
The first pitch is scheduled for Monday, August 22 at 6:05 p.m. Probable starters for the contest are Sonny Gray for Minnesota and Rangers rookie Cole Ragans for Texas.
