The Texas Rangers scored five runs but the Atlanta Braves scored eight runs.
In the like 120 degree Cumberland, Georgia heat that had to have made the Rangers glad to play half their games at The Shed, Texas experienced a death by a thousand bombs before their own porous defense took the finishing blow.
Nathan Eovaldi was on the mound for the finale. Eovaldi had been dealing with a sickness or something which pushed him to Sunday. Who knows, maybe he has the Taco Bell poop lettuce bug. His start today was certainly analogous to explosive diarrhea.
The Braves scored a manufactured run in the first inning. They scored a run in the second inning on a solo home run. They scored a run in the third inning on a solo home run. They scored a run in the fourth inning on a solo home run. Eovaldi didn’t return for the fifth inning.
In some ways Eovaldi’s start felt like a later years Colby Lewis outing but Colby Lewis would have pitched seven innings anyway and the Rangers would have already scored ten runs.
By the end of the fourth inning, Braves All-Star catcher Drake Baldwin had three hits, a home run, a stolen base, two runs scored, and his 84th RBI against the Rangers this weekend. He also singled in the sixth. In the eighth, he homered again.
Meanwhile, it was Texas that came through with a crooked number when they scored three in the top of the fifth off of slider one trick pony Grant Holmes. Unfortunately, that extended rally died with the tying run on second base. An inning later, two runners in scoring position were stranded and then the rallies of consequence pretty much dried up against the back of the Atlanta bullpen.
Hopes were put to rest after Texas failed to tie the game when the defense abandoned them in the bottom of the seventh. The Braves put three runs on the board after the Rangers botched a rundown and made questionable decisions in the infield. During that rally, Austin Riley collected his third hit of the day, including two of Atlanta’s four home runs and four RBIs overall.
The Rangers did finally score that fourth run after it didn’t matter much anymore. Immediately afterward, Baldwin hit his second home run.
Overall, winning one of three games against the Braves at their home ballpark probably should have been the expectation. The Rangers should be pretty thankful for that one win as they allowed 29 runs in three games over the weekend.
Player of the Game: Probably Drake Baldwin. Wyatt Langford did go 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs, and a home run for Texas’ fifth and final run, though
Up Next: The Rangers open a series against the Chicago White Sox which would have seemed like a nice respite on the schedule coming into the season except that the White Sox are now leading the American League Central as the rising underdog success story of the season.
RHP Jacob deGrom is expected to make his first start of the second half opposite RHP Erick Fedde for Chicago.
The Monday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.