Postgame Notes: Guardians 6, Rangers 3
In this story:
TEXAS lost tonight’s series opener after winning previous 2 in a row, as club has not won 3 in a row since 8/20-22 at MIN…club is 6-6 in last 12 G and has 2-2 record on penultimate homestand of the season against LAA (2-1) and CLE (0-1 + 2 G)…has gone 1-3 vs. CLE in 2022 and needs to win final 2 G of this series to avoid 5th straight season series defeat.
JON GRAY allowed just one unearned run over 5.0 innings in his 3rd start since returning from the Injured List, posting a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP) and limiting opponents to a .146 BA (6-41) in those outings…permitted just 3 baserunners: a HBP in the 2nd and a walk/triple in the 4th…his 5.0 IP and 87 pitches tonight were both his highest marks since returning from injury, as he continues to ramp up to a full workload.
ADOLIS GARCÍA recorded his 25th stolen base in the 2nd inning to go along with his 25 home runs…he is the 6th player (7th instance) in Rangers history with a 25+ HR/25+ SB season: Ian Kinsler 2x (32/30 in '11, 31/31 in '09), Alfonso Soriano in 2005 (36/30), Iván Rodríguez in 1999 (35/25), Bobby Bonds in 1978 (29/37), and Toby Harrah in 1977 (27/27)…his 25 stolen bases are most by a Ranger since Elvis Andrus in 2019 (31) and most by an outfielder since Delino DeShields in 2017 (29).
KEVIN PLAWECKI recorded an RBI single in his 1st plate appearance as a Ranger in the 2nd inning, a play that resulted in 2 Texas runs after Leody Taveras scored on an E8…signed to a contract and added to the active roster on Wednesday, Plawecki became the 54th player used by the Rangers in 2022, matching last year’s total (also 54).
CLEVELAND has won 16 of last 19 G overall and 17 of last 22 G on the road, including 7 straight away contests…marks longest road win streak since going 10-0 from 8/8-29/20…trailed 2-1 after 5 innings before plating 5 runs in the 6th…remain undefeated on current and final road trip to CWS (3-0) and TEX (1-0 + 2 G)…paired with tonight’s loss by the Chicago White Sox, Guardians’ magic number to clinch the A.L. Central is down to 3.
CODY MORRIS secured his 1st Major League win…lowered his ERA to 2.18 through 5 career starts, lowest by a Cleveland pitcher through 1st 5 career starts since Aaron Civale in 2019 (1.82)…with 5 strikeouts tonight, has now tallied 11 strikeouts over his last 2 starts after totaling 9 over 1st 3 outings.
WILL BRENNAN went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI in his 3rd career game since being called up, as he has hits in all 3 G…has hit safely in 16 straight games between the MLB level (3 G) and Triple-A (13 G).
ANDRES GIMENEZ has reached base safely in 23 of his last 24 G after going 1-for-3 with an RBI…during the month of September, Gimenez is hitting .300 (24-80) with 3 2B, one 3B, one HR, and 7 RBI.
EMMANUEL CLASE recorded his MLB-leading 38th save…the former Ranger has gone 38 for 42 (90.5%) in save tries in 2022.
MISCELLANEOUS: Josh Jung drew his 1st walk in his 54th MLB plate appearance…Jesús Tinoco (1.2 SHO IP) has a 10.0-inning scoreless streak over 8 relief outings since his contract was selected on 9/1…the Rangers received 5 hits from the 7th (2-Smith), 8th (1-Plawecki), and 9th (2-Thompson) batters in the order.
