Rangers 'Challenged', But Suffer Two-Game Sweep By Giants
After winning three consecutive series, the Texas Rangers suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, with Tuesday's score finishing at 4-2.
Both games of the series played out in similar ways, only this time, the Rangers drew first blood. In the first of three successful challenges on the day, Joey Gallo earned an RBI on a fielder's choice in the top of the first inning after a second look at first base showed he beat the throw to the bag by less than a fraction of a second.
"The first one obviously was huge because it gave us a run," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "That was a tough one. It's the first inning, it's kind of a coin flip. Even of you think he's safe, you don't know if they're going to overturn it. The other two would have never happened if that never ruled in our favor."
However, Texas starter Jordan Lyles failed to protect the lead in the bottom half of the frame. The Giants pushed across two runs, and though Lyles settled down and followed with four scoreless innings, San Francisco never surrendered the lead.
The sixth inning is where déjà vu set in. Just as in Monday night's game, trailing by one run, Charlie Culberson could have ended a scoring threat from the Giants, but committed a painful throwing error that padded San Francisco's lead. Only this time, two runs scored on the play.
With Tuesday's loss, the Rangers wrapped up a stretch of 19 consecutive games. While Chris Woodward enjoys the daily grind of the baseball season, he's thankful his team has a day to recharge their batteries.
"I don't think our guys looked fatigued," Woodward explained, "I thought maybe the 19 games was wearing on us a little bit. But I'm not going to make excuses."
After their off day on Wednesday, the Rangers (18-20) will begin a four-game series with their in-state rival Houston Astros (18-17).
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