Watch: Slumping Texas Rangers Routed at Cubs
The Texas Rangers lost to the Chicago Cubs 10-3 for the second consecutive time Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
The Rangers (4-4) were charged with five errors, by far their worst defensive performance of the season. Slumping Texas has lost four of its last five games.
The offense sputtered once again, with Cubs starter Justin Steele (1-0) holding the Rangers to four hits and a run in six innings. He did give up four walks, but the Rangers were unable to convert most of those chances.
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was charged with two of errors, while second baseman Marcus Semien, catcher Jonah Heim and center fielder Adolis García had one miscue each.
Martín Pérez (1-1) scattered five hits in five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) and striking out five. He walked no one. But he left in the sixth inning down 3-1 and the Rangers were unable to rally.
Rangers third baseman Josh Jung drove in the Rangers' first run on a single, his only hit of the game. Seager went 2-for-4. First baseman Nathaniel Lowe drove in two runs.
The Cubs (4-3) got solo home runs from Patrick Wisdom and Yan Gomes. Trey Mancini led the Cubs with three hits. Ian Happ had just one hit but drove in three runs.
The Rangers and Cubs wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 1:20 p.m. Jon Gray is expected to take the hill for Texas.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Happ scored on a Dansby Swanson ground out to Lowe.
The Rangers tied the game in the top of the third, thanks to Jung. Seager led off with a double and García followed with a one-out walk. Seager was already at third base thanks to a sharp line out by Lowe, which Happ had difficulty getting back to the infield.
After García, Jung fought off an inside pitch to go opposite field and drive in Seager with a single.
The Cubs regained the lead in the bottom of the third. This time Swanson drove in the run on a weak single to right field, which scored Nick Madrigal, who led off the inning with a double.
The Cubs then went long in the bottom of the fourth. Wisdom hit a solo home run, his third long ball of the season, to put the Cubs up, 3-1. For Pérez, the home run snapped a streak of 62 innings without giving up a homer.
In the sixth inning, the game got away from Texas. The Rangers went to Ian Kennedy out of the bullpen. He gave up a one-out single to Mancini, one that was nearly caught by García and lost in the sun by right fielder Robbie Grossman.
Then Wisdom hit a grounder to Seager's right side at shortstop. Seager tried to make a play at second on Mancini, but his throw was wide of Semien and that advanced the runners 90 feet.
That's the situation Rangers left-hander Brock Burke inherited after the Cubs brought in Eric Hosmer to pinch-hit for Luis Torrens. Burke couldn't get out of the jam as Hosmer hit a ground ball single to center field, which scored two runs and gave Chicago a 5-1 lead.
Those two runs scored by the Cubs ended the Rangers bullpen's scoreless streak at 23 2/3 innings. The Rangers bullpen hadn't given up a run since Opening Day. The streak was the fourth longest in team history, dating back to 1974.
The Rangers tried to chip away. In the top of the seventh, Josh Smith pinch-hit for Ezequiel Duran and walked to lead off. Smith moved to second after Seager drew a one-out walk and then scored on Lowe's single.
With two runners on and one out, García flew out to right and Jung struck out.
In the eighth inning, Gomes hit his first home run of the season for the Cubs as Chicago extended its lead to 7-2. Happ then drove in three runs on a bases-loaded single, which included a throwing error by García.
Lowe drove in the game's final run in the top of the ninth with an opposite-field single to left field, which scored Semien, who doubled earlier in the inning.
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