ARLINGTON, Texas — When asked Saturday if the prior night’s come-from-behind victory could give the Rangers some semblance of confidence in future late-inning rallies, manager Bruce Bochy said yes.
Who knew the future could arrive so quickly?
Two days after just their second win this season when trailing after six innings, the Rangers snapped another drought on Sunday in a sweep-clinching 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field. The Rangers, for the first time in 2023, won a game when trailing after seven innings. They’d been 0-27 in those situations prior, but a four-run eighth inning made it 1-27.
More on the details of Texas’ comeback shortly. First: what does it all mean?
“I think it just shows you, if you go hard for nine innings, you see what happens,” Bochy said Sunday. “Once you do it, you know you can do it again. You have the confidence that, ‘Hey, this game’s not over.’”
Circle that last sentence, because as the Rangers prepare to host first-place Tampa Bay starting Monday, the way in which they bookended their first sweep since June 2-4 vs. Seattle may help provide a future mental blueprint to late-inning success.
The first-place, 54-39 Rangers have hopes of a playoff run. And, listen, even if the team’s historically-good offensive outputs in April and May might’ve distorted the perspective of this, not every game can be won via slugfest. They’ll need to win close games. They’ll need to come from behind, often vs. high-end bullpens in the postseason.
There weren’t many better than Cleveland’s. The Guardians’ relief staff entered this series against the Rangers with an MLB-best 3.09 ERA; Texas scored six off of it on Friday and four more on Sunday.
“We were due for an offensive breakout, due for a come-from-behind win,” first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. “We got both those taken care of this series.”
OK, now the details. The Rangers trailed the Guardians 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Texas’ one-through-five hitters each reached base to orchestrate the comeback. Second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager each drew one-out walks before a Lowe single scored Semien to make it 5-3. Right fielder Adolis García hammered a double to the left field wall and scored Seager to make it 5-4. Rookie third baseman Josh Jung hit a first-pitch slider into left to score the tying run (Lowe) and the go-ahead run (García) to make it 6-5.
Texas scored all four of its eighth-inning runs off of Cleveland right-handed pitcher Trevor Stephan, who’d entered Sunday’s game with a 2.54 ERA and just three earned runs allowed in his last 15 outings.
“I knew they were going to come slider, that’s what they’ve been doing to me all series,” said Jung, who’d gone 1 for 12 against the Guardians prior to his two-RBI single. “Truly just trying to move [the ball] forwards.”
He moved the ball forward, alright. He might’ve moved the team’s mentality forward, too.
“To [come from behind] twice in a series to start the second half just gives us that kind of momentum going forward,” Jung said. “Especially if we’re down one or two like we were today.”
After a 13-day layoff, Rangers starting pitcher Martín Pérez threw five innings and gave up three earned runs on five hits and four walks. Most importantly though, he shook himself into form after a rocky start.
Cleveland leadoff hitter Steven Kwan hammered a Pérez sinker into the right field seats to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Then, in the second, Pérez let two more scores on a bases-loaded single from Kwan.
His third, fourth and fifth innings? Scoreless, with nothing but two walks and a single. The Rangers skipped Pérez’s last first-half start against the Washington Nationals after his velocity dipped in a six-run, 1.1-inning start vs. the Houston Astros on July 3.
“I was better out there, came back in the third, had zeroes in the fourth in the fifth,” Pérez said. “That was a great feeling for me. I’m getting there, I know it’s been tough for me, but I’m a competitor and I never give up.”
That sort of feeling has been going around the Rangers’ clubhouse lately. Rookie left-hander Cody Bradford, after two scoreless relief innings in the sixth and seventh, allowed a two-run home run to Grapevine alum David Fry in the eighth that pushed Cleveland’s lead to 5-2. The Rangers scored their four runs in the bottom half of that frame, then co-closer Will Smith pitched a scoreless ninth for his 16th save of the season.
A back-breaking, late-inning home run? Hey, maybe it’s not too back-breaking if you’re willing to compete. And, if you’ve got some confidence.
“That can really deflate you a little bit,” Bochy said. “But, it didn’t with these guys.”
Briefly: Left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy threw a bullpen session on Sunday at Globe Life Field. Bochy said Thursday that he’s “come along really well” and is close to being an option for the Rangers. Texas signed Duffy, 34, to a minor league deal in January ... Right-handed pitcher Matt Bush pitched a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout in his Double-A Frisco debut on Saturday. The Rangers signed the 37-year-old to a minor league contract on July 10.
