García Does It Again...Twice; Rangers Still Outslugged By White Sox in 9-7 Loss
The Texas Rangers were humbled by the Chicago White Sox on Friday night, losing by a score of 9-7 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The White Sox ended an extended run of success from the Rangers starting rotation. Texas starter Dane Dunning carried a scoreless streak of 14 innings into Friday night's contest, and was relishing the opportunity to face his former club. But after two scoreless frames to extend the streak to 16, the White Sox lineup unloaded on the Rangers rookie.
Chicago batted around in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs before Dunning could get out of the frame. Dunning pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.
"I'm definitely disappointed in my outing," Dunning said. "I felt like I still competed, but I wasn't as efficient and I didn't locate my pitches as well as I should have. I didn't command the breaking ball at all. The biggest thing was just falling behind in too many counts. I'm a pitcher who likes to attack the zone. I wasn't doing that."
Kolby Allard was scheduled to pitch behind Dunning in a tandem role, but came in to relieve him earlier than anticipated. Allard helped slow the bleeding, pitching 2 1/3 innings, only allowing one run on four hits and two strikeouts.
The Rangers climbed back from a 5-0 deficit, sparked by a two-run home run from Nick Solak in the fourth inning. But after the White Sox added their sixth run of the game, once again, Adolis García stole the show for the Rangers.
García added two more home runs on Friday, including a three-run shot that pulled the Rangers within a run at 6-5 in the fifth inning. García now has five homers in his first 10 games of the season.
"I'm just enjoying the moment, living the dream and trying to do my best," García said. "I want to be able to do this for the entire season. It gives me that hunger. I want to be better. That's all I'm looking forward to. Just trying to be better and help the team win."
Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied the game at 6-6 with an RBI single in the sixth inning. However, the White Sox got to Kyle Cody in his second inning of work out of the bullpen. Yermin Mercedes broke the tie with an RBI double, then Nick Madrigal manufactured a vital insurance run for the White Sox. Yoan Moncado added Chicago's ninth run of the game with a solo blast in Cody's third inning out of the bullpen.
García's second home run of the game was a solo shot that closed the deficit to two runs, but White Sox closer Liam Hendricks wrapped up a five-out save just one batter later.
The Rangers, now 9-11, will try again on Saturday with Kyle Gibson (2-0, 2.53 ERA) on the mound. He will square off with White Sox southpaw Dallas Keuchel (1-0, 5.68 ERA).
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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for SI's InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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