CHICAGO – After the final out was made, and the comeback was complete, Rangers designated hitter Kole Calhoun went up to starting pitcher Martín Pérez, put his arms on his pitcher’s shoulders and then patted him on the back.
Hey, even a team’s best player can use some relief from time to time.
Considering where the Rangers were heading into Saturday’s game against the White Sox, the result was pretty surprising. An offense that generated as much traffic on the bases as a small town of late totaled 21 base runners. A team that struggled to find an offensive spark in the month of June found many. And a pitcher who's been one of the league’s best had his worst start of the season – and yet, the Rangers still found a way to come out victorious.
Final: Rangers 11, White Sox 9 in 10 innings — a result not necessarily expected when the Rangers were getting shutout down five in the fifth.
“It’s kind of like, how much fight do you have?” said Rangers reliever Matt Moore, who had five strikeouts in two innings and improved to 3-0 on the season. “It’s easy to fold. That’s the easy thing to do: to just go home and take your beating, but these guys kept battling.”
Nathaniel Lowe recorded his fourth straight multi-hit game, including a go-ahead double in the top of the 10th inning. Brad Miller, in his second game off the IL, reached base four times. Adolis García sparked it all with a three-run home run in the fifth for his 12th of the season and his second in as many games.
Saturday’s day game marked the seventh time the Rangers have won in Pérez’s last eight starts. This one didn’t look like the others.
Pérez — the AL’s ERA leader heading into Saturday — surrendered 12 hits against the White Sox, tying a career high, and allowed a season-high six earned runs over five innings. He threw 101 pitches, meaning he threw as many pitches as the Rangers would’ve hoped, especially after a full-bullpen day the game before.
“I know it wasn’t his best numbers wise, but what he showed our team — the heart that he had out there to just give everything he had all the way to the end — we obviously appreciated that,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “We wanted to fight for him.”
Easier said than done, though, for a team that entered Saturday’s game 2-7 in the month of June and riding an 0-for-25 streak with runners in scoring position. They had eight strikeouts against White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito through four innings and trailed 5-0.
Quickly, the Rangers responded by loading the bases. Shortstop Corey Seager nearly hit a grand slam but his ball was caught on the left-center-field warning track. Then García sent a three-run home run 109 miles off his bat and over the left field fence. He looked at the dugout in celebration, almost egging the rest of his teammates to jump on the big-hit train.
“Our team needed that energy and that spark,” García said through a translator. “It was a good little turnaround to get us motivated again.”
And while the Rangers offense chipped away, the bullpen held the White Sox in check. They didn’t allow the White Sox to score from the sixth inning through the ninth. Jesus Tinoco struck out the side in his one inning, meaning he’s struck out all four hitters he’s faced with the Rangers since he was called up on Friday.
The White Sox scored two runs in the 10th, but Joe Barlow eventually got the save.
“That set the tone and gave our offense a lot of confidence to say, ‘Hey, if we score a couple runs and get back in this thing, they’re going to hold them,’ ” Woodward said. “And they did.”
Earlier this series, Woodward categorized the recent struggles as an up-and-down point of the season. April was a downer; May brought optimism; June was a slow start. They needed a bounce back game, especially on offense, and on a day where their ace struggled, they still found it.
“In the end, it helps create what we’re used to seeing,” Moore said about the team’s offensive performance. “If we’re used to seeing it, we expect it to happen tomorrow night. I think that’s part of the growth that happens as you get to become a good club.
— Smith on the mend: Woodward said rookie infielder Josh Smith is doing better after spraining his shoulder and ending up on the IL a week ago. Smith participated in infield practice on Saturday and has started doing work off the tee.
“He feels better,” Woodward said.
— Briefly: The Rangers snapped their 0-for-25 streak with runners in scoring position in the first inning of Saturday’s game. Seager hit a line drive into center after Marcus Semien had a leadoff double. It didn’t result in a run scored, however … García is now tied with Seager for the team lead in home runs with 12 … White Sox fans chanted “fire Tony” about white Sox manager Tony La Russa in the 10th when the Rangers scored four runs to take the lead.
