Adolis Garcia Keeps Power On, Jordan Montgomery Wins Texas Rangers Debut
ARLINGTON, Texas – Another Texas Rangers pitching debut, another win.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery earned the win as the Rangers beat the Miami Marlins 6-2 Friday at Globe Life Field.
Montgomery, who was acquired in a trade deadline deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, held the Marlins to two runs on six hits and a walk in six-plus innings.
The Rangers hit three solo home runs, including two by Adolis Garcia who leads the club with 28 homers. Corey Seager's homer in the first tied the game at 1-1. Leody Taveras's RBI double scored Mitch Garver to tie it at 2-2 in the second. Garcia homered in the third and sixth innings to give the Rangers a two-run lead.
The Rangers added two more runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Marcus Semien and Josh Jung's sacrifice fly.
The Rangers (64-46) have won four consecutive games and continue to lead the AL West, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Houston Astros.
Rangers right-hander Jon Gray (6-5, 3.66) starts Game 2 at 3:05 p.m. Saturday against a yet to be announce Marlins starter.
Rangers 6, Marlins 2
Here are the moments of note from the Rangers' Friday night win:
Montgomery's Rangers Debut
Lefty Jordan Montgomery held the Marlins to two runs on six hits and a walk in six-plus innings in his Rangers debut. Miami scored a run each in the first two innings, but after allowing a lead-off single in the third, Montgomery retired the next 11 batters. Josh Sborz replaced him after the first two batters reached on a single and walk in the seventh. Sborz preserved a scoreless frame with a strikeout, groundout and pop out. Montgomery struck out six and improved to 7-9.
El Bombi Is Twice As Nice
Adolis Garcia was 3 for 3 with two homers and a double. He leads the Rangers with 28 homers, sixth-most in the majors. It's his ninth game with three or more hits and third multi-homer game in 2023. Garcia has 23 doubles and his 88 RBI are the most in the AL and second-most in the majors.
Another 10-Hit Night
The Rangers collected 10 hits Friday. It's the 54th game of the season Texas has recorded 10 or more hits. The Rangers lead the majors with 1,043 hits and 633 runs.
Stratton Cleans Up
Chris Stratton, who was part of the trade with Jordan Montgomery, pitched the final two innings Friday. He held the Marlins to one hit and struck out three. It's his second appearance for Texas. He threw 1 1/3 scoreless relief on Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox.
Up Next
The Rangers face the Marlins at 3:05 p.m. Saturday in Game 2 of the three-game series at Globe Life Field.
You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.
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