Postgame Notes: Rangers 4, Yankees 2
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TEXAS won today’s regular season finale to earn a series split vs. NYY (2-2) and finish 68-94 (.420) in 2022, best record since 2019 (.481, 78-84) and an 8-win improvement over 2021 (.370, 60-102)…has finished with a below .500 record for a 6th straight season, most consecutive sub-.500 finishes since the franchise moved to Texas in 1972…improved to 22-29 all-time in regular season finales today, winning 3 of last 4 and 2 of first 3 at Globe Life Field (lost 6-0 on 10/3/21 vs. CLE)…went 34-47 (.420) in Arlington this season, T4th-lowest home win pct. in club history and lowest since 2018 (.420, 34-47)…recorded an overall run differential of -36 (707-743) after being outscored 625-815 (-190) in 2021, highest run diff. since 2017 (-17, 799-816).
GLENN OTTO earned the win and turned in his 8th quality start (6.0 IP, 2 R-ER) in his final outing of the season…went 7-10 with a 4.64 ERA (70 ER/135.2 IP) over 27 G/GS in 2022, the most starts by a Texas rookie since Yu Darvish in 2012 (29), and the most innings by a TEX rookie since Nick Martinez in 2014 (140.1)…his 7 wins this season are the most by a Ranger rookie starter (min. 20 starts) since Darvish in 2012 (16)…Otto went 3-3, 3.68 (26 ER/63.2 IP) over his last 12 starts dating back to the beg. of August, posting a .218 opp. BA over that season-closing span…his 8 quality starts were T3rd-most among Texas rotation members this season (23-Pérez, 10-Dunning, 8-Gray/Otto), and the most by a TEX rookie since Nick Martinez in 2014 (also 8).
NATHANIEL LOWE went 1-for-1 with a single and a walk this afternoon before he was lifted for a pinch-runner (Mark Mathias) in the 3rd inning, finishing the season with a career-best .302 (179-593) batting average…he is the 1st Texas qualifier to bat .300+ since Elvis Andrus (.302) and Adrián Beltré (.300) both did it in 2016...in the last 9 seasons (beg. 2014), the only other Ranger to bat .300 and hit 25+ HR in the same season was Beltré in 2016 (.300 BA, 32 HR)…Lowe is just the 5th first baseman (min. 75% of games at 1B) in club history to post a qualifying season with a BA of .300-or-higher, joining Will Clark (3x, last 1998), Rafael Palmeiro (2x, last 1991), Mark Teixeira in 2005, and Mike Hargrove in 1977…his team-high .850 OPS figure is the best mark by a qualified Texas batter since Danny Santana in 2019 (.857), and the highest by a TEX first baseman since Teixeira in 2006 (.886).
CHARLIE CULBERSON put the Rangers on the board and tied the game at 1-1 in the 3rd inning with a solo home run that just snuck over the left field wall…was his 2nd homer of the season, as each of his last 2 hits have been round-trippers (also 8/24 at COL off Jhoulys Chacin)…despite seeing the majority of his playing time opposite left-handed pitching, each of Culberson’s 2 HR this season have come off righties...it was also his 2nd ever HR at Globe Life Field (also 5/9/21 vs.SEA off Justus Sheffield), as 6 of his 7 HR over his last 2 seasons spent with Texas have come on the road.
JONAH HEIM lifted a game-tying solo home run in the 4th inning, finishing the year with career highs in HR (16) and RBI (49)...he is just the 5th catcher (min. 75% of games at C) in club history to hit 16+ homers in a single season, joining Iván Rodríguez (8x, last 2002), Robinson Chirinos (2x, last 2018), A.J. Pierzynski in 2013, and Rod Barajas in 2005…Heim, who turned 27 on 6/7/22, has hit 26 HR over his 2 seasons with Texas (2021-22), the 4th-most ever by a Rangers catcher before his age-28 season: 171-Rodríguez, 29-Don Slaught/Jim Sundberg, 26-Heim.
NEW YORK-AL went 2-2 in this season-ending 4-G set in Arlington, finishing the year with 99 wins after going 12-5 in last 17 G...the A.L. East champs will face the winner of the TB/CLE Wild Card Series which is scheduled to begin on Friday in Cleveland...won season series with Texas, 4-games-to-3.
DOMINGO GERMAN took the loss today (4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R-ER)...went 0-3 in his final 8 G/7 GS despite allowing 3 R-or-less in 6 of those 7 starts.
JOSE TREVINO hit his 11th HR of the season in the 4th inning, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead at that point...he finished with single-season career highs in HR (11) and RBI (43) among many other categories...has hit 4 of his 20 career HR at Globe Life Field, 2nd-most in any park (8 at Yankee Stadium)...Trevino was one of several Rangers to take batting practice at an under construction Globe Life Field in December 2019.
MISCELLANEOUS: Adolis García’s 66 extra-base hits (27 HR, 5 3B, 34 2B) this season are the most by a Ranger since Elvis Andrus in 2017 (68), and the most by a TEX outfielder since Nelson Cruz in 2012 (69)…Yerry Rodriguez logged a scoreless 7th inning in his MLB debut, striking out the 1st batter he faced (Oswald Peraza)…the Rangers’ 101 home runs at Globe Life Field this season are the team’s most ever at this facility (prev. 91 in 2021)…the Rangers drew a total of 2,011,361 fans over 81 home dates at Globe Life Field this season, surpassing the 2 million mark for a 13th straight full season and 25th time in the last 26 years (excluding 2020).
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