May 27, 2022 - Game 44
W- Matt Moore (2-0)
L- Dany Jiménez (1-2)
S - Dennis Santana (1)
HR: OAK: Murphy (5), Pinder (5)
Time of Game: 2:54
Cowboy Hat Winner: Andy Ibáñez (1st)
Game Recap
Jon Gray took the mound for the Rangers after a solid start Saturday against the Astros. Texas tried to reach two games below .500 for the first time since April 14th (2-4). The Oakland Athletics sent left-hander Cole Irvin to the hill, also coming off a six-inning performance in his last start against the Angels. "We've played good baseball," Marcus Semien said after the game. "Us playing good baseball is the confidence we need and playing good baseball against divisional opponents is good too."
The Rangers got out of the gate immediately. Jonah Heim singled to center field with two on, scoring Semien and Adolis. Later, Cole Irvin would retire ten straight Rangers hitters, including a Kole Calhoun double play that ended the first inning. The bottom of the third inning became chaos. After the first two Oakland Athletics reached base, Ramon Laureano singled in Sheldon Neuse to put the A’s on the board. Seth Brown drove in a run on a groundout. Then the A’s got another run on an errant throw by Heim to get Laureano at third base. The Athletics extended their 3-2 lead on back-to-back home runs by Sean Murphy and Chad Pinder.
Texas had a chance in the fifth inning with base hits by Sam Huff and Nathaniel Lowe. However, Charlie Culberson hit into a double play, and Eli White grounded out, ending any threat. In the seventh inning, the Rangers picked up the pace. Kole Calhoun reached a milestone with his single with one out, followed by another Sam Huff single. "I can't say enough about the character of [Kole Calhoun]," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "It's cool what Garrett Richards told him after the game. It's cool to hear the group speak about each other after the game and how much it meant to Kole to get that hit and how far he's come in his career. He wasn't sure how long he would be playing."
Nathaniel Lowe doubled to score Calhoun, followed by an RBI groundout by Brad Miller. Texas was able to crawl within one run. Adolis García tied the game up in the eighth inning with a double to center field, close to a two-run home run. In the ninth inning, the Rangers offense poured it on. With a walk and a single, Andy Ibáñez singled to center field, scoring two (in a pinch-hit). Marcus Semien followed with a first-pitch single as the Rangers put three more in the ninth.
Jon Gray’s line looks bleak when you see the box score. Gray allowed five runs, five hits, three walks, and five strikeouts in six innings. Four hits, one walk, and five runs came in that third inning alone. Therefore, taking the third away was a good outing, but The Oakland offense did the damage. Matt Moore pitched two perfect innings Friday while striking out three hitters. Dennis Santana closed the game for his first MLB save and his first save overall since 2014 in the Dominican League. "The development of Dennis is incredible," Woodward said. "He's got a special makeup [and] the heart of the bullpen."
Postgame Notes
Kole Calhoun picked up his 1,000th career hit Friday with a single in the seventh inning. He’s the fifty-sixth player in MLB history to pick up 1,000 career hits.
In Calhoun’s 1,000 career hits, 128 are against the Athletics, most against any team. Before that seventh inning hit, Calhoun had 127 hits against Oakland and against Texas.
The Athletics and Rangers have met in eight series since the start of 2021; Cole Irvin made a start in seven of those eight series.
Friday was Jon Gray’s first career start at RingCentral Coliseum and his second career start against the Oakland Athletics. His first start against Oakland was in 2021 when he went 2.1 innings and allowed five runs in Denver.
Sam Huff has fourteen straight starts in MLB, where he has at least one hit.
Sean Murphy hit his sixth career home run against the Rangers, the most against any team.
Adolis García has had four doubles in his last four games.
The Rangers clinch a winning month for the first time since June 2019.
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