Rangers Beat A’s
ARLINGTON — Rangers manager Jeff Banister kept insisting his young offensive players were taking the right approach at the plate even though they had scored just five runs in their past four games.
Banister said the Rangers were showing improved discipline, and on Tuesday they received their reward. The Rangers hit five home runs, including four in the last four innings, and they rallied for a 7-4 victory over the Athletics at Globe Life Park.
“We saw two walks early in the first and weren’t able to get anything going after that,” Banister said. “But you saw the approach inside the at-bats. Tried to attack balls in the zone, staying patient on balls out of the zone. I believe that the more pitches you see, the more hitters get locked in. Really just making their pitchers work and hunting pitches they can drive. I think all of the patience led to some of the at-bats that you saw late. It was just a situation where these guys were pretty well locked in, stayed focused and got the job done.”
The five home runs included the first by Adrian Beltre since April 14. That came in the top of the eighth inning and gave the Rangers a 5-4 lead. Joey Gallo followed with a two-run homer later in the inning to make it a three-run game.
“We battled all game and had a lot of good at-bats, balls hit hard and didn’t get results,” Gallo said. “We kept fighting and it paid off.”
The Rangers’ five home runs were a season-high and their most since hitting five against the Astros on May 2, 2017. The last time they hit five at home was Aug. 31, 2016, against the Mariners.
“We are swinging the bats a lot better lately,” Beltre said. “It’s a work in progress but it was a good day for our offense. It was nice to see that because our pitching has been better so our offense needs to get better. We’re trying to work the opposing pitcher and hit the ball hard. I talk to these guys and tell them to trust the process. If you have the right approach, the results will be there.”
Robinson Chirinos and Jurickson Profar hit the first two home runs — solo shots in the fourth and sixth off Oakland starter Sean Manaea, but the Rangers trailed 4-2 going into the seventh. Delino DeShields then reached on a bunt hit off reliever Yusmeiro Petit and then Shin-Soo Choo tied it with a two-run home run.
“Manaea … early our guys were making him work,” Banister said. “Seemed like we were positive counts majority of the night. You look up and his ball-strike ratio is about 50-50, and our guys continued to take the approach and be patient. He was able to make some pitches in some situations and positive counts and get himself out really until Chirinos hit the home run there in the fourth.”
Rangers starter Matt Moore continues to show improvement, allowing three runs in six innings. It was just his second quality start in 11 outings this season. Chris Martin picked up the win in relief with Keone Kela earning his 14th save.
