Rangers Blast Marlins to Start Second Half

Adolis García breaks out of his July slump and Jon Gray throws six more shutout innings in Miami.

The Texas Rangers started the second half of the season by ending their four-game losing streak and defeating the Miami Marlins 8-0 on Thursday at LoanDepot Park.

The Rangers (42-49) started the second half on the east coast as they made up a game scheduled for April 4 and postponed due to the MLB labor lockout. From Miami, the Rangers hopped on a place to fly across the country to begin a nine-game, nine-day west coast road trip in Oakland on Friday.

The Rangers limped into the All-Star Break after being swept at home by the Seattle Mariners in a four-game series. Rangers starter Jon Gray changed that quickly.

Gray (7-4) gave the Rangers a great start on Thursday, as he threw six innings of four-hit baseball, not allowing a run. He gave up two walks and struck out five.

In doing so, Gray became the first Texas pitcher with consecutive starts of at least six shutout innings since Lance Lynn did in with starts on July 24 and July 29, 2020. Gray has now thrown 13 shutout innings in his last two starts, with two walks, 14 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .116.

Gray didn’t need a ton of run support, but he got it anyway.

Adolis García, who was hitting .125 in July before Thursday, went 2-for-4, including a fifth-inning home run that drove in a pair of runs and helped make it a 5-0 game. García finished with three RBI. Leody Taveras also had two hits and drove in two runs, both of which came in the ninth inning.

Marcus Semien went 2-for-3, while Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim each had a hit and an RBI. Elier Hernandez continued to play well for Texas, as he had a hit and an RBI.

Marlins (43-49) starter Pablo López (6-5) gave up five runs and five hits in five innings, while walking three and striking out six.

The Rangers gave shortstop Corey Seager an extra day of rest after he played in the All-Star Game on Tuesday. Martín Pérez, who pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the American League, is the probable starter for Sunday’s game in Oakland, after Spencer Howard pitches on Friday and Taylor Hearn pitches on Saturday.

Before the game, the Rangers called up infielder Ezequiel Duran from Triple-A Round Rock to take the place of Brad Miller on the roster, who is now on the 10-day injured list after a neck sprain. Duran started second base for the first time in his MLB career and hit ninth.

The Rangers also sent RHP Dane Dunning on injury rehab assignment to the Arizona Complex League Rangers. He is scheduled to start a game against the ACL Padres on Thursday night.

The Rangers also formally announced that outfielder Zach Reks, who was designated for assignment last weekend, is on his way to the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization.

---

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.