Bullpen Helps Texas Rangers Claim Giants Series Win

The Texas Rangers' bullpen had to pitch more than seven innings while the offense gave their a healthy lead.

The Texas Rangers claimed their second straight win over the San Francisco Giants, 9-3, at Oracle Park on Saturday night.

The Rangers (70-47) won at least 70 games for the first time since 2019, when they won 78 games. It's also the fastest any Rangers team has reached 70 wins (117 games).

The victory also kept the Rangers ahead of the Houston Astros in the American League West race. The Astros won on Saturday. 

Rangers starter Andrew Heaney was pulled in the second inning and the Rangers bullpen went the rest of the way, with Grant Anderson (2-1) claiming the victory. 

Giants (62-55) starter Alex Cobb (6-4) absorbed the loss. 

Rangers 9, Giants 3

Here are the important takeaways from the Rangers' victory over the Giants on Saturday night.

Pitching Comes Through

Left-hander Andrew Heaney started the game for the Rangers, but he only lasted 1 1/3 innings, as he gave up three hits, one run and two walks while striking out one. He left the game with the bases loaded and handed the ball to Grant Anderson with one out. He induced a double play, and pitched 2 2/3 innings of two-hit baseball before he handed a no-out, two-on situation to Chris Stratton in the fifth inning. He got out of that jam. 

Stratton pitched three innings and gave up a hit and a walk. Josh Sborz threw a scoreless eighth inning and Brock Burke gave up one run in the ninth on a solo home run.

Offensive Cushion

Rangers shortstop Corey Seager homered in the first inning. In doing so, he hit 20 home runs and 31 doubles in his first 74 games, making him the second player in the modern era to reach 20 home runs and 30 doubles in his first 74 games of a season (Joe Medwick, 1937 Cardinals, per Elias Sports Bureau). Seager ended up with two RBI. 

The Rangers scored three runs in the fourth, two more runs in the fifth and three more in the ninth for the 9-2 win. While there were no other home runs, Ezequiel Duran had three hits and was a home run shy of the cycle. He drove in two runs. Mitch Garver had three hits and drove in three runs. Seager, Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe each had two hits. 

Rookie J.P. Martinez had his first career MLB hit and finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Next Up

The Rangers end their three-games series with the Giants on Sunday with a 3:05 p.m. first pitch at Oracle Park. The Rangers will start right-hander Dane Dunning (9-4, 3.21) against Giants right-hander Logan Webb (9-9, 3.38). Texas will enter the game with a 2 1/2-game lead over the Houston Astros in the American League West. After the game, the Rangers return to Arlington start a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday. 

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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