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Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA Today Sports
After a four-game home series that saw Texas fire its manager and front office chief, the Rangers were looking forward to hitting the road for a six-game road trip that begins Friday night against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward was fired during the series opener against the Oakland A’s on Monday, and longtime president of baseball operations John Daniels was shown the door two days later.
The flight north got even sweeter as the Rangers split their messy series with the A’s on Thursday afternoon en route to a 10-3 victory. Nathaniel Lowe hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to open the game, and recently acquired Mark Mathias added the lone hit for the Rangers.
“It was fun today,” interim manager Tony Beasley said after replacing Woodward to improve to 2-2. “I think it was more relaxed all day.”
The Rangers managed just 5 runs and were 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position in their first three games against the A’s. He scored 10 runs on 10 hits and went 3-for-5 with runners on Thursday.
“Everybody’s in a place where there’s a lot going on,” Lowe said. “Behind the faces you see on the field are human beings. Have a good flight to clean it up, get on the road, have a long series where hopefully we’ll get a lot more, it’ll be good for the team. We have to keep getting better.”
Left-hander Martin Perez (9-3, 2.79 ERA) will start the four-game series against Minnesota. The Rangers will finish their road trip with two games in Colorado.
Perez is no stranger to Target Field as he went 10-7 with a 5.12 ERA for the Twins in 2019. But he’s 0-3 with a 5.54 ERA in nine career games (six starts) against the Twins.
On July 9, Texas went no-decision against Minnesota and allowed six runs, a three-run homer by Jose Miranda and a two-run homer by Gary Sanchez in seven hits in 9-6 innings for the Rangers.
Minnesota, which started a three-game series against Kansas City in seven games at the Stadium, got a rest Thursday but still managed to win on the road. Starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, who underwent an MRI, said there was no structural damage to his throwing shoulder and that he was “in general soreness and fatigue” from day to day.
Mahle, a key trade deadline acquisition from the Cincinnati Reds, left Minnesota 4-0 over the Royals after throwing 2 1/3 hitless innings on Wednesday. The Twins were concerned that Mahle, who averages 94.3 mph on his fastball, hit 88-89 mph on Wednesday.
Earlier in July in Cincinnati, he had an MRI on his shoulder that showed contusion and swelling.
“Mahle was struggling with his shoulder for a couple starts,” said Minnesota reliever Emilio Pagan, who pitched two scoreless innings in Wednesday’s victory. “He is a warrior. “I think he wanted to stay in the game, but maybe it’s good for our team to get him out and stay in front of him and get him enough rest and some treatment going forward.”
Veteran right-hander Dylan Bundy (6-5, 4.76 ERA) will start Friday’s opener for the Twins.
Bundy is 7-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 12 career games (10 starts) with the Rangers. He won his only start against them this season on July 10 in Arlington, Texas, when he allowed four runs on six hits over five innings.
– Field level media
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