Foltynewicz's Gem Not Enough As Rangers Fall In Extra Innings to A's

Texas Rangers pitching turned in a fabulous performance in Oakland, led by six strong innings from Mike Foltynewicz.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Aug 7, 2021 10:35 AM EDT

Rangers starter Mike Foltynewicz has had plenty of struggles this season. Not only does he lead Major League Baseball in home runs allowed, but when he faces any team that's not the Oakland Athletics, he's turned in a 6.58 ERA.

On Friday night, Foltynewicz continued his success against the A's, matching Oakland All-Star starter Chris Bassitt blow for blow over six innings. Foltynewicz allowed just one run on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

“There’s gonna be ups and downs when you’re a starting pitcher or an everyday player,” said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. “For him to right the ship is pretty good. ... There's typically a spot in the game where you have to execute and minimize the damage, and he did that in that fourth inning."

The 29-year-old right-hander said he was "effectively wild" throughout the night, but Woodward mentioned how Foltynewicz did a much better job in executing pitches when things weren't going his way. That wasn't exemplified more when Foltynewicz got out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the fourth inning, giving up just one run that scored on a double play.

Remarkably, Foltynewicz had pitched very well against Oakland this season. In 25 1/3 innings, Foltnewicz owns a 2.84 ERA with only four walks and 19 strikeouts.

The rest of the Rangers pitching turned in a masterful performance until Starling Marte hit a three-run walk-off homer off Jimmy Herget in the 11th inning. Brett Martin, Joe Barlow, Dennis Santana and Spencer Patton each logged one scoreless inning in relief of Foltynewicz. Until Marte's winning blast, Rangers pitching had stifled the A's lineup to only three hits.

"I can't say enough about our pitching tonight," Woodward said. "To keep that lineup, holding them to four hits for 11 innings, that's pretty good. We should have won that game. That's one of those games that frustrates me. Our offense needs to step up right there and support the pitching we were getting the whole game. They deserved better."

Once again, the Rangers lineup struggled in clutch situations, going 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position. The only hit came in the fifth inning when Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in Curtis Terry with an RBI single. Three of the Rangers six hits came off the bat off Kiner-Falefa.

The Rangers (39-71) have now lost four straight games, and will look to right the ship on Saturday against the A's (62-48). Drew Anderson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will being making just the second start of his career — his first in a Rangers uniform and his first since 2018. He'll square off with Oakland southpaw Cole Irvin (7-10, 3.50 ERA).