Key Fourth Inning, Strong Pitching Give Rangers Third Straight Win

A couple of young hitters came through in the fourth inning while Spencer Howard and Jordan Lyles shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Texas Rangers won their third straight game.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Sep 8, 2021 12:41 AM EDT

For the second time in a week, the Texas Rangers have won three games in a row. And for the third time this season, they've won three straight on the road — the first time since May 4-6.

The Rangers took the first game of this short two-game series in Arizona, defeating the Diamondbacks by a score of 3-1. While the offense was kept quiet for most of the night, a three-run fourth inning was all they would need.

After the Diamondbacks had taken a 1-0 lead in the third inning, the Rangers answered back. Once again, DJ Peters came through in a big spot for Texas, tying the game with a one-out single that drove in Yonny Hernandez. After Nick Solak singled, then he and Peters moved up 90 feet on a Jonah Heim groundout, Jason Martin came through with in the at-bat that would make all the difference in the game.

Martin got behind in the count after struggling with a couple of changeups from Zac Gallen. With two strikes, Martin went down and got a hold of another changeup, driving it through the hole on the right side of the infield. Peters and Solak scored on the hit, giving the Rangers the 3-1 lead they would never surrender.

On the mound, Spencer Howard pitched well in his return from the COVID-19 Injured List. He was only scheduled to pitch two innings on Tuesday night, since he was not stretched out very much prior to getting shut down. Howard made the most of the two innings, retiring all six batters he faced, giving up no hits, no walks and struck out one batter.

Jordan Lyles took the ball after Howard, and turned in one of his best performances of the season. He got off to a rough start, giving up a run in his opening frame. But he settled down and took the ball the rest of the way. Lyles gave up just the one run on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in seven innings of work.

What's Next

The Rangers (50-88) and Diamondbacks (45-94) finish their two-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field. Kohei Arihara (2-3, 6.19 ERA) takes the ball for Texas, facing off with Arizona's Luke Weaver (3-3, 4.11 ERA).