Brad Miller's Clutch Hit Lifts Rangers To Sweep of Phillies; Fourth Straight Win

The Texas Rangers gutted out their fourth straight win, sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies in a two-game series.

The Texas Rangers prevailed in a tight contest, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies by score of 2-1 in 10 innings. The Rangers earned a two-game sweep of the Phillies, won their fourth game in a row and improved to 10-14 on the season.

In a game dominated by pitching, Brad Miller came through with the hit of the game. With Adolis García as the zombie runner on third base with one out in the 10th inning, Mitch Garver drew a critical walk. Eli White then pinch-ran for Garver and used his elite speed to steal second base. 

After Nick Solak struck out on three pitches, Miller hit a 70-mph blooper into shallow right field off Phillies reliever Brad Hand, scoring García and White, giving the Rangers the first two runs of the ballgame.

Joe Barlow came in with a successful 10th inning, conceding the zombie runner and closing out the game with two strikeouts in the frame. It was his third save of the season.

Starting pitchers Martín Pérez and Zack Wheeler matched each other blow for blow throughout the evening. Pérez flirted with danger in the later innings, issuing walks to start the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. However, Pérez was able to tight-rope out of danger in all three instances, throwing seven shutout innings with four hits, four walks and four strikeouts.

The Rangers had no answer for Wheeler, who shut out the Texas lineup for 7 2/3 innings. Marcus Semien had the best performance against last year's runner up for the National League Cy Young award, recording two of the six hits allowed by Wheeler, including a double in the first inning.

The Phillies appeared to strike first in the sixth inning. With two outs, Nick Castellanos drove one to the opposite field and was initially called a home run. However, an umpire review changed the play to fan interference, giving Castellanos a double. Pérez danced out of the inning unscathed by getting Bryce Harper to fly out.

What's Next?

The Rangers are off on Thursday, then begin a three-game series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Friday. Former Yankees prospect Glenn Otto (1-0, 2.89 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball for Texas, facing off against Gerrit Cole (2-0, 3.00 ERA).