Absolutely Dunning! Texas Rangers Shutout Angels, Lower Magic Number

Dane Dunning throws seven scoreless innings as Texas Rangers power bats come up big again.

The Texas Rangers received a season-best performance from pitcher Dane Dunning to beat the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday and lower their magic number.

The Rangers (89-69) 5-0 win at Angels Stadium lowered their magic number for winning the AL West to two games. Any combination of Rangers wins and Houston Astros losses equalling two gives Texas the West title. The Rangers' magic number for clinching a Wild Card spot is one game.

The Rangers finish the season with four games at Seattle, beginning Thursday. The Astros, who beat the Mariners Wednesday night, finish the season with three games at Arizona, beginning on Friday.

Adolis Garcia drove in two runs on a first-inning double and a solo home run in the third to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead against the Angels (71-87). 

That was all Dunning needed. He held the Angels scoreless on three hits over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked none to earn the win and improve to 12-6. Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc each pitch a scoreless inning of relief behind Dunning.

"I felt really good, I came out strong," Dunning said. "These are big games, but that is what all of us work and strive for. It's a good feeling, but I felt comfortable on the mound."

The Rangers added three insurance runs in the ninth on Evan Carter's two-run homer and Marcus Semien's solo homer.

Rangers 5, Angels 0

Here are the key takeaways from Wednesday's game:

Great Dane

Dane Dunning delivered one of his best starts of the season on Wednesday. 

It's his fourth consecutive good-to-really-good start. In his previous three starts, Dunning allowed seven runs in 16.1 innings and earned two wins.

Power Rangers

The Rangers' 231 homers are the fifth-most in franchise history and the most since they hit 237 in 2017. The Rangers have hit an AL-high 47 homers in September. It's the most by Texas in any month since hitting 47 in June 2017 and the club record 49 homers in September 2011.

The Rangers' top homer-hitting seasons:

2005: 260
2001: 246
2003: 239
2017: 237
2023: 231 (with four games remaining)

Managing the Mariners

Entering the four-game, regular-season finale at Seattle, the Rangers are 8-1 against the Mariners, including wins in the past seven meetings. It's Texas' longest win streak against Seattle since they won seven straight from Sept. 17, 2011 to April 10, 2012. The longest win streak against the Mariners in a single season was seven straight from April 23 to June 28, 2004.

Up Next

The Rangers begin their final, four-game regular-season series Thursday in Seattle. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (10-11, 3.25) is set to face Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert (13-7, 3.75) in Game 1 at 8:40 p.m.

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You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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