ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers continued their late-season surge Sunday, riding another dominant pitching performance and a late home run from Corey Seager to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field.
The win extended Texas’ winning streak to four games and lifted the Rangers back above the .500 mark at 59-58 for the first time since July 30. Texas also secured its fourth consecutive victory on the current homestand and locked up the season series against Baltimore with a 4-1 advantage.
Jacob deGrom (8-0) overcame an early setback to earn his first victory since June 30. The veteran right-hander allowed one run on three hits across five innings while striking out nine and walking one.
Baltimore grabbed a 1-0 lead in the opening inning when Jackson Holliday connected on a two-out solo home run, but deGrom settled in from there. The Orioles managed just two singles the rest of his outing as he finished one strikeout shy of matching his season high. DeGrom also moved within five strikeouts of 2,000 for his career, ending the night with 1,995.
Texas answered immediately in the second inning with two runs despite never hitting the ball out of the infield. Ezequiel Duran reached on an infield single before advancing on a pickoff error. Evan Carter drove in the tying run on a fielder’s choice, and Jake Burger followed with another infield single that, combined with a throwing error by shortstop Gunnar Henderson, allowed Carter to score for a 2-1 lead.
The Rangers’ bullpen took over from there and continued its recent dominance. Four relievers combined for four scoreless innings, extending the unit’s scoreless streak to 12 1/3 innings.
Seager delivered the decisive blow in the eighth inning, launching a three-run homer 418 feet into the right-center bullpen. The blast was his 11th home run of the season and his first since returning from the injured list on July 31. Seager has now collected hits in eight of his last 24 at-bats since rejoining the lineup.
Austin Wynns added a pair of singles for his first multi-hit game of the season and was the only Ranger with more than one hit.
Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish pitched effectively despite taking the loss. The right-hander surrendered just two unearned runs over six innings without issuing a walk, but defensive miscues in the second inning proved costly.
Holliday accounted for nearly all of Baltimore’s offense, finishing 2-for-3 with a home run, double, RBI and walk. His first-inning homer snapped an 0-for-18 slump to begin August.
The Rangers have now won eight of their last 10 meetings with the Orioles dating to last season and improved to 4-1 on their current six-game homestand. Texas will look to complete a three-game sweep and extend its winning streak to five games in Monday afternoon’s series finale before turning its attention to the next stretch of the schedule.
A crowd of 38,626 packed Globe Life Field, marking the Rangers’ fourth sellout of the season.
