Post-Game Notes: Rangers 7, Phillies 0

Here are the post-game notes from the Texas Rangers' victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night

TEXAS produced its fifth shutout victory of the season and its second in the last four games (also 7-0 on Friday at Detroit). The Rangers have set a club record with eight straight victories against Philadelphia, dating back to April 1, 2014. It's the team’s longest win streak against a National League opponent since Interleague play began in 1997. The Rangers matched a season high with four home runs and tied for Rangers most ever in a game at Globe Life Field.

MARTÍN PÉREZ earned his team-high fifth win of the season (5-2) after spinning his team-leading 11th quality start (six shutout innings), tied with Houston's Framber Valdez and Toronto's Alek Manoah for the A.L. lead. He lowered his season ERA from 2.10 to 1.96, the 2nd-lowest in franchise history through a pitcher’s first 14 starts behind only Rick Honeycutt in 1983 (1.49). After going 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA (six earned runs/eight innings pitched) over his first two starts of 2022, Pérez has posted a 5-0 record and 1.47 ERA (13 earned runs/79.1 innings pitched) over his last 12 starts (beginning 4/23). He has the lowest ERA by a Rangers pitcher over any 12-start span since Gaylord Perry from 7/18-9/10/75 (1.31 ERA), and the longest single-season undefeated stretch by a Texas starter since Alexi Ogando from 4/5-6/8/11 (also 12 straight).

GOING BACK-TO-BACK: Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim connected for back-to-back solo home runs with two outs in the fifth inning off Kyle Gibson, breaking a scoreless game. It marked the fourth instance of back-to-back home runs by Texas batters in 2022, and the first since Corey Seager/Adolis García on May 28 at Oakland. It was the second time Heim has been involved in back-to-back home runs this season, as he also hit the first of consecutive home runs with Brad Miller on April 10 at Toronto.

NATHANIEL LOWE homered and singled in his 19th multi-hit game of the season, tied with Adolis García for the team lead. Lowe has an RBI in a season high-tying four straight games (also did so from April 8-11). He has six home runs in June, tied for his most ever in a single month (six in April of 2021). He also tied with Marcus Semien for most on the club. He has hits in five straight games and his batting .316/.333/.605/.938 (24-76) over his last 19 games to raise his season BA from .259 to .278, highest among qualified Rangers.

MARCUS SEMIEN went 3-for-4 with a single, double and a two-run home run, his team-best sixth three-hit game of the season. He has 11 doubles, tied for the team lead with Adolis García. Semien is hitting .308 (24-78) with team-high six home runs (tied w/ Lowe) over 19 games in June, and slashing .308/.368/.515/.883 (40-130) with 12 extra-base hits over his last 32 games (beginning May 18) to raise his season BA/OPS figures from .157 BA/.432 OPS to season-best .231 BA/.655 OPS.

JONAH HEIM has homered in two of his last three games (2 total HR) and has hit seven home runs since the beginning of May. He has home runs in each of his last two starts against the Phillies, dating back to May 3. His home run on Tuesday was his first off a right-handed pitcher since May 30. 

PHILADELPHIA has lost consecutive games for the first time since losing five in a row from May 27-31. It was also the first time to lose back-to-back games under interim manager Rob Thomson (now 14-4 since he took over on June 3). The Phillies were shut out for the sixth time this season and the second time on the road. Tuesady was Philly's first game Globe Life Field, the 22nd MLB franchise to play a game there in the regular season or postseason and the 109th different venue that the Phillies have played a game in franchise history.

KYLE GIBSON took the loss despite turning in his third straight quality start (6 1/3 innings, 3 runs), as he has posted a 3.10 ERA (7 ER/20.1 IP) in those outings to lower his season ERA figure from 4.40 to 4.06. He allowed back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning, just the 2nd time this season to allow multiple home runs (2 HR on 4/25 vs. COL)...the former Ranger (2020-21) pitched vs. Texas for the first time since July 7, 2019 with MIN...despite making his first appearance at Globe Life Field since July 7, 2021, his 16 career starts still rank third in facility history. He made his 250th career appearance (244th start).


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Matthew Postins
MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers for Fan Nation/SI and also writes about the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He also covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com.