August 15, 2022 - Game 115
W - Glenn Otto (5-8)
L - James Kaprielian (3-4)
S- Jonathan Hernández (4)
HR: TEX: Semien (18); OAK: Allen (3)
Time of Game: 3:10
Rangers Cowboy Hat Winner: Bubba Thompson (1st)
Game Recap
The Rangers and Athletics began a four-game series this week, but the story entering Monday was the manager situation. Earlier in the day, Texas announced they dismissed their manager, Chris Woodward. Meantime, third base coach Tony Beasley took over for the rest of the season. On the mound, the Rangers sent Glenn Otto coming off a spirited start against the Houston Astros, in Houston. Otto threw five innings and allowed two runs despite walking five batters. Meanwhile, the Texas offense got another crack at James Kaprielian Monday. It was Kaprielian's tenth MLB start against Texas in his career. It's the most starts against a team with the next highest at five (Mariners and Angels). "It was nerve-racking," Interim manager Tony Beasley said. "It was a one-run ballgame. Every pitch mattered, every play mattered, [and] too many walks giving opportunities for the other team to score. [We] persevered and somehow got through it."
Glenn Otto ran into some issues in the first two innings with command. He walked the first two batters in the first inning, then got a double play ball and a pop out to prevent any scoring. In the second inning, he walked Skye Bolt but didn't let Bolt go past first base. The Rangers had two on and two out, but Kaprielian struck out Bubba Thompson. In the third inning, Oakland got on the board on a Nick Allen solo home run to left field, then walked two more batters. Otto got Chad Pinder to fly out to left to keep the damage at one. Texas returned the favor in the bottom of the inning as Marcus Semien launched a solo home run to left field. Texas had two on afterward. However, a Josh Smith flyout ended any additional Rangers scoring chance.
Texas took the lead in the sixth inning. Leody Taveras hit a one-out triple and then scored on Bubba Thompson's RBI single, giving the Rangers their first lead of the night. Cal Stevenson drove a ball to the right-centerfield corner in the seventh, but Leody made an excellent no-look catch to preserve the one-run lead. "[The defense] was amazing," Glenn Otto said. "A lot of long innings and a lot of pitches in those inning. It's not always easy to stay on your toes and stay focused with all of that going on." Oakland threatened again with two on in the eighth, but two strikeouts ended their scoring chance. In the ninth, Elvis Andrus walked which set up the tying run at first with one out, but Jonah Heim caught Andrus at second base. After Nick Allen walked, Hernández struck out Stevenson to end the night. "It was fun. I was a little nervous early on. Just excitement I would guess more than anything else [but] as the game got going just getting into the flow of what was happening."
Glenn Otto's line didn't look like a quality start from the eyes, but he was wildly effective on Monday. Otto walked six but only yielded one run on two hits. In addition, he struck out the last batter he faced (Jonah Bride), keeping a streak of all seventy-two pitching appearances with at least one strikeout. "Struggled early to find the zone [but] glad I was able to get through six and figure it out," Otto said. "I just go out there and try to make pitches one pitch at a time. When I was in the zone, things were good. Try to take away the positive but at the same time address the negatives and move forward for the next one."
Brock Burke pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but ran into issues in the eighth. He walked a batter and allowed a hit, but struck out the next two batters faced. Burke struck out three total in two innings. Jonathan Hernández closed the ninth and walked two batters. However, he navigated through the inning and finished the night off with the save, thanks to a Jonah Heim caught stealing.
Postgame Notes
Rangers are 9-5 against the Oakland Athletics in 2022. Texas is 15-
Both Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe extended their lengthy streaks on Monday. Adolis extended his hit streak to a career-high twelve games, while Lowe extended his on-base streak to twenty-one games. García's hit streak is the longest by a Texas Rangers player this season.
Brad Miller picked up his first multi-hit game since July 10th and his second multi-hit game since May 29th.
The six walks Monday is a professional career high for Glenn Otto.
Marcus Semien's .540 slugging percentage is the highest against any American League opponent. He has a .677 slug against the Cubs, .641 against the Mets, and .550 against the Phillies.
Corey Seager snapped a streak of twenty-one straight home games he reached base at least once. The last home game Seager didn't reach base was June 25th vs. Washington. Monday also a snapped a streak of fourteen straight games overall where Seager reached by a hit or walk.
Bubba Thompson has driven in a run in three straight games (four total RBI). Before Saturday, Thompson had one career MLB RBI in seven games played.
The Rangers are 3-3 in their last six games where the opposition scored first. Previous the team was 15-40 when their opponent scored first.
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