Trade-deadline acquisition Jordan Montgomery is settling in nicely during this playoff chase with the Texas Rangers, who have a lot of positive momentum with eight games left in the regular season. Montgomery threw seven scoreless innings for the second time in his last three starts and switch-hitting All-Star catcher Jonah Heim drove in yet another run as the AL West-leading Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0 on Saturday night, extending their division lead after Houston lost again. “It's fun” Montgomery said.
The Texas Rangers secured a crucial three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners in the tight AL West by hanging on through a rough patch from a bullpen that not long ago threatened to derail a promising season. Suddenly 2 1/2 games up in the division after a 9-8 victory in their home finale Sunday, the Rangers hit the road for the final seven games looking to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the American League playoffs and home-field advantage in a Division Series. “I packed like a normal seven-day trip,” Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi said.
Steven Kwan drove in Bo Naylor following Tyler Freeman’s tying single with two outs in the eighth inning, rallying the Cleveland Guardians to a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night. The Rangers, who remain in the second AL wild-card position, dropped their second straight in the series. “This is a tough one, no getting around it,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said.
The baseball-shaped cake with three lit candles went unclaimed as José Ramírez skipped his postgame media availability. Ramírez homered on his 31st birthday to touch off Cleveland's nine-run fourth inning, leading the Guardians to a 9-2 win and three-game sweep of the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers on Sunday. Ramírez connected off rookie Cody Bradford (4-2) leading off the fourth and the Guardians kept swinging away.
Lucas Giolito struck out a season-high 12 over seven scoreless innings, Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez each drove in three runs, and the Cleveland Guardians routed the Texas Rangers 12-3 on Friday night. Texas, which had its six-game winning streak halted, currently holds the second AL wild-card berth. The Rangers also are second in the West, where first-place Houston and third-place Seattle are separated by 1 1/2 games.