Inside The Rangers

Watch: Bubba Thompson Fuels Texas Rangers Win Over Cubs

Center fielder Bubba Thompson led a surge at the bottom of the order, as the Texas Rangers avoided getting swept at the Chicago Cubs.

Matthew Postins

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The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs 8-2 in the final game of a three-game series at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sunday. 

The Rangers (5-4) won their first road game of the season and snapped a seven-game losing streak on the road, dating back to last season.

The bottom part of the Rangers batting order drove the victory. Center fielder Bubba Thompson, hitting ninth, went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. He had a double and triple. 

Catcher Jonah Heim, batting seventh, went 2-for-4 with two runs. Travis Jankowski started in right field and hit eighth, going 1-for-3 with two runs and a RBI. 

Marcus Semien was the only other Rangers batter with two hits, going 2-for-5 with three RBI in the leadoff spot.

Rangers starter Jon Gray (1-1) threw 100 pitches and nearly made it through six full innings. He gave up both runs, allowed six hits, walked three and struck out four. Will Smith, Cole Ragans and José Leclerc threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The Cubs (4-4) dropped back to .500 after winning the first two games of the series.

The Rangers return home to start a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Monday. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. with the Rangers set to start Andrew Heaney at Globe Life Field.

The Rangers finally had a big inning offensively, scoring four runs in the top of the second. Oddly, that's been a consistent trend, at least in the last two series.

Josh Smith had a one-out single to left and moved to third base on a single by Heim. Jankowski hit a shot down the left-field line that went into the stands for a ground-rule double, scoring Smith and moving Heim to third.

That moment on the basepaths defined by Jankowski's second hit of the season and a lot of hair.

With the Cubs’ corner infielders in, Thompson hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line. Third baseman Nick Madrigal dove for it, caught it and then tried to tag out Heim, who was returning to the bag. Madrigal missed the tag and then tried to throw Thompson out at first base. But his throw was high and went into the netting behind first base. 

Initially, both Heim and Jankowski scored. But after an umpire’s conference, they ruled that the ball was dead. Jankowski returned to third and Thompson moved to second. Heim’s run stood and the Rangers were up 2-0.

Semien doubled to right to drive home both Jankowski and Thompson to make it 4-0 Texas. 

The Cubs touched Gray for two runs in the bottom of the second. Cody Bellinger walked. After Gray struck out Trey Mancini, Edwin Rios hit his first home run of the season to cut the Texas lead in half, 4-2.

In the top of the fourth, Jankowski reached base on a ground ball and error by Cubs first baseman Eric Hosmer. Jankowski stole second and scored on a Thompson double to make it 5-2.

The Rangers added three more runs in the top of the sixth. Heim led off with a single and scored on a one-out triple by Thompson.

Semien singled Thompson home and he scored on a Corey Seager double, giving Texas an 8-2 lead.

Texas escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Smith. Gray gave up a single to the Cubs’ Ian Happ, a single to Mancini and walked Rios to load the bases. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy lifted Gray for Smith, who struck out pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom on a 1-2 fastball to end the inning. 

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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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.

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