Texas Rangers Rally In 9th For First Time in 2023, Beat Mets

Nathaniel Lowe drove in two runs in the ninth inning to give the Texas Rangers a 4-3 win over the New York Mets.

For the first time all season, the Texas Rangers pulled victory from the clutches of defeat.

Nathaniel Lowe's two-run, two-out single in the ninth helped the Texas Rangers rally for a 4-3 win over the New York Mets Monday at Citi Field.

It's the first time the Rangers have won a game trailing after the eighth inning in 2023.

"Thankfully, I got a pitch to hit and I did," Lowe said. "We got some runs when we needed it."

THE RANGERS TAKE THE LEAD IN THE 9TH!!!! ⭐️
@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | 📺: BSSW pic.twitter.com/KUYN86CiQT

— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) August 29, 2023

The win prevented the Rangers (74-57) from falling into third place in the AL West. 

Texas had lost nine of their past 10 games and fallen out of first place in the division.

The first-place Seattle Mariners (74-56) are playing the last-place Oakland A's, and the second-place Houston Astros (75-58) beat the Red Sox in Boston 13-5.

Corey Seager doubled and later scored on a fielder's choice in the eighth to pull the Rangers to within 3-2.

The Mets (60-72) took a 2-0 lead on Brandon Nimmo's two-run homer in the third against Rangers' starter Jon Gray. DJ Stewart's solo homer in the fifth made it 3-0.

Gray allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out nine.

The Rangers scored a run in the sixth after Marcus Semien doubled and Corey Seager reached on an infield single to start the inning. Lowe had a 3-0 count, however, before hitting into a double play. Semien scored on Adolis Garcia's double but the double play took away big inning potential.

Rangers 4, Mets 3

Here are some of the most notable moments from Monday's game:

Bullpen Redemption

Martin Perez pitched two perfect innings of relief to earn the win and Jose Leclerc pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save to pickup the Rangers' beleaguered bullpen. 

Nearly Another Close Loss

The Rangers have lost five times by two or fewer runs in their past 11 games when they've gone 2-9. The Rangers have 33 losses by one or two runs, tied for seventh most in the majors.

Time Badly Spent

Sunday's 13-inning loss in Minnesota was the third MLB game this season to go 13 or more innings. The game's four-hour, 10-minute length is the longest game in the league in 2023 and the second-longest Rangers game in the past two seasons. They played a game that lasted 4:17 on June 12, 2022, against the White Sox in Chicago.

The last time the Rangers played a 13-inning or more game was May 5, 2017 at Seattle.

Up Next

Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney (9-6, 4.34) faces left-hander José Quintana (1-5, 3.73) at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday at Citi Field.

---

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.