July 22, 2022 - Game 92
W - Cole Irvin (5-7)
L - Spencer Howard (1-2)
S- AJ Puk (1)
HR: TEX: Lowe (13) ; OAK: Laureano (10), Brown (12)
Time of Game: 2:53
Game Recap
After a quick visit to Miami, the Rangers began a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics. Texas sent Spencer Howard to the hill for his second start in the last three against the Athletics. Howard is coming off back-to-back five-inning starts where he allowed two runs (one earned against Oakland). The Rangers faced Cole Irvin, also coming off three terrific starts against Toronto and the Houston Astros twice. "[Irvin] works quick, he throws strikes, [and] he executes," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "This guy comes right at you. He has no fear and throws all his pitches for strikes." The Rangers looked to continue their dominance against Oakland, winning seven of the ten meetings in 2022.
The Athletics struck first in the second inning. Vimael Machín lined a double to right field, scoring two initially. However, the ball rolled under the padding in right field, prompting the Rangers to challenge that the ball lodged under the wall. The call was overturned, and the umpires in New York ruled in favor of Texas; therefore, only Skye Bolt scored, and Tony Kemp was left stranded at third base. The Rangers tied the game up in the fourth on an Adolis García single to left field, scoring Corey Seager. Oakland brought the power bats in the fifth inning. The Athletics put four straight hits against Spencer Howard, including a solo home run by Ramón Laureano and a two-run home run by Seth Brown.
However, the Rangers couldn’t get much against Cole Irvin through seven-plus innings. Texas had four total baserunners on the evening against Irvin. However, after the leadoff walk, the Rangers received a gift on an error by Sean Murphy on a dropped third strike. Then, Marcus Semien hit a jam-shot single to right-center to score Leody Taveras and cut the deficit to 4-2. Oakland got their run back on a Stephen Vogt single scoring Chad Pinder. The Rangers got a run on a Nathaniel Lowe home run and had the tying run at the plate for the second straight inning. Josh Smith also snapped an 0 for 19 with a RBI single in the ninth. However, Marcus Semien hit a hard grounder to third with the bases loaded to end the game.
Spencer Howard struggled with command throughout the night, though he had a stretch where he retired nine straight. However, the home run ball bit him to end Spencer’s night. Howard allowed six hits, four runs, three walks, and struck out three. Four of the six hits came in the fifth. "Early on, [Spencer] was struggling with his command a little bit," Chris Woodward said. "You could tell he wasn't comfortable out there, but ended up going through the third and fourth decent. He couldn't stop the bleeding after they kept getting hits."
Brock Burke finished the fifth inning and also threw the sixth inning. After allowing a hit to his first batter, he retired four straight. Jonathan Hernandez walked a batter, but retired the Athletics in the seventh during his outing. José Leclerc had a rough eighth inning. Leclerc allowed two hits, a walk, and a run that turned out to be the difference maker on Friday in the one-run loss.
Postgame Notes
Nathaniel Lowe is 15 for 41 against the Oakland Athletics in 2022. All three of Lowe's homers have come at Oakland.
In seven of Spencer Howard’s outings, he’s allowed a home run in six of them.
Ramón Laureano has a home run in four of his last six games against the Rangers. He also struck out three times for the third time in 2022 (June 21st and June 28th).
Cole Irvin has a 1.67 ERA in July with his seven innings and one earned run (two total runs) start Friday.
Adolis García ended the All-Star break on a 3 for 33 slump with no RBIs. To start the second half, García is 3 for 7 with 4 RBI.
Corey Seager and Leody Taveras snapped their hitting streaks on Friday (Corey - 10 and Leody - 9).
Irvin’s eight starts against the Rangers are the most against any team. In addition, he picked up his fourth win vs. Texas, which is also the most.
Texas started winning five of their first six in Oakland this season. They’ve lost two straight dating back to May 29th.
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