For First Time In 2 Weeks, Texas Rangers Win Consecutive Games

The Texas Rangers are streaking again. The club won consecutive games Tuesday for the first time since Aug. 15 and are tied atop the AL West.

The Texas Rangers are streaking again. This time it's the fun way.

Mitch Garver hit a 423-foot solo home run to center field in the seventh to lead the Rangers to a 2-1 win over the New York Mets Tuesday at Citi Field.

It's the Rangers' second consecutive win, their first back-to-back wins since Aug. 15.

The Rangers (75-57) finish the series and their nine-game road trip at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday. They are 3-5 on the trip entering the finale.

"Can't say enough about what he's doing," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Garver. "He really lifted this ball club."

The Rangers are now in a three-way tie for first place in the AL West with the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros. The Mariners lost to the Oakland Athletics, to fall back to the Rangers and Astros, who beat the Red Sox in Boston.

The Rangers added a run in the ninth on Ezequiel Duran's RBI single to left. Garver walked and Travis Jankowski singled ahead of Duran. Both runners moved up to second and third on Phil Bickford's wild pitch behind Duran's head. Duran singled on the next pitch to drive in the big insurance run.

"We saw this in the first half with all of the playing time he got and big hit after big hit," Bochy said of Duran.

The run came in handy, too. Mark Vientos' two-out homer against Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth pulled New York to within a run. Chapman, however, secured the final out to earn his ninth save.

The Mets (60-73) held the Rangers to six hits, including starter José Quintana, who held Texas scoreless on three hits and three walks over six innings.

Drew Smith started the seventh and surrendered a 1-0 homer to Garver, who was leading off the inning. 

Rangers 2, Mets 1

Here are the key moments from the Rangers-Mets game on Tuesday:

Garver Carving

Mitch Garver has homered in three of the past four games and five times in the past 10 games. Garver has eight homers, four doubles, and 16 RBI in 22 games in August.

His solo homer in the seventh gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Garver was 1 for 2 with two walks, an RBI, and two runs scored.

Heaney Does Enough

Andrew Heaney held the Mets scoreless through 5 1/3 innings but left with two on and one out in the sixth in a scoreless game. Chris Stratton took over and got a foul out and strikeout to end the inning. It's the fifth consecutive start Heaney has failed to go at least six innings. He held the Mets scoreless on five hits and a walk and had seven strikeouts on 81 pitches.

Since May 27, Heaney has gone at least six innings only once (Aug. 1 vs. White Sox) over 16 starts. In his first 10 starts, he went at least six innings six times.

One-Run Wins

The Rangers won a one-run game Tuesday for the second consecutive night. Maybe their one-run fortune is turning around.

The Rangers are 11-18 in one-run games, which is the third-worst record in one-run games in the majors, above only San Diego (6-20) and St. Louis (10-23).

Monday's 4-3 win snapped a four-game losing streak in one-run games. Texas hadn't won a one-run game since beating the Giants 2-1 Aug. 11 at San Francisco.

Up Next

Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning (9-6, 3.36) faces a Mets starter to be announced in the series finale at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday.

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