53-50 – A’s gaffe is Rangers’ gain as Texas completes sweep

Jon Gray returns a winner

The Texas Rangers scored two runs while the formerly Oakland Athletics scored one run.

The Rangers made the near-desperation signing of Patrick Corbin because Jon Gray broke his wrist in the later days of spring training. Corbin was supposed to soak up innings with Gray and Cody Bradford on the shelf. Anything else from the veteran lefty would be considered a bonus.

Corbin has been mostly all bonus. He has given the Rangers the innings that they needed — 104 ²⁄₃ of them so far, in fact — and with it, he’s enjoying his best ERA (3.78) in a season since turning in a 3.25 campaign in his first season with the Washington Nationals back in 2019.

Over the previous four seasons in Washington, Corbin hadn’t even gotten his ERA below 5 in any year. Needless to say, Corbin has performed at a level pretty consistent to what we could have expected from Gray.

In his start this evening, Corbin went 5 ²⁄₃ innings and allowed just one run on five hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts. So it’s fitting that tonight, in Gray’s return from injury, the rotation staple right-hander of these last few years relieved Corbin and picked up a win in his return.

Corey Seager homered again for Texas to give them a lead early but then the A’s plated their one run off Corbin on a fluky play where Brent Rooker scored from first base on a double that was contested at second base.

But not to be outdone, the Rangers scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Wyatt Langford scored from first base on a popup that neither shortstop Jacob Wilson nor left fielder Tyler Soderstrom wanted to handle.

A bad play by the A’s but also some heads up hustle from Langford to make it home.

The win gives Texas a sweep and moves them to three games over .500 with the homestand continuing on Friday.

Player of the Game: Gray missed nearly four months of regular season action and returned in the bullpen where he pitched two innings of scoreless ball in high leverage moments. For his effort, he’s already a winning pitcher in his first game back.

Up Next: The Rangers have Thursday off but they stick around town before opening up a series against the Braves beginning on Friday night from The Shed.