A night after absorbing a 15-1 rout in the second-half opener, the Texas Rangers answered with the kind of win that keeps a division race honest, scoring four runs in the sixth inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 on Saturday in a matchup of first-place teams.
The rally started against Tyler Kinley. With Texas down 5-3 in the sixth, Ezequiel Duran doubled and Evan Carter tied it with a two-run homer, his eighth. Kinley walked Kyle Higashioka and gave way to Dylan Lee, and after singles by Wyatt Langford and Josh Jung loaded the bases, Brandon Nimmo lined a two-run single that scored Joc Pederson and Langford for a 7-5 lead. Kinley recorded one out, was charged with three runs, and took both the loss and his fourth blown save.
It rescued a strange night for MacKenzie Gore, who gave up five runs in the first three innings — a two-run Eli White homer in Atlanta’s four-run second and a Michael Harris II solo shot in the third — then allowed nothing else across 5.2 innings, striking out seven and earning the win. Mauricio Dubón‘s RBI double off Tyler Alexander cut the lead to 7-6 in the seventh, but Jakob Junis — activated from the injured list Friday — stranded the tying run, and All-Star Jacob Latz retired all four batters he faced for his 19th save.
Pederson set the tone with his 16th homer in the first inning and scored three times. Nimmo drove in three, and Carter, Langford, Jung and Nimmo each had two hits in a 12-hit attack against an Atlanta staff that had allowed one run the night before behind Chris Sale’s seven shutout innings.
Texas is 50-48 and leads Seattle by a game and a half in the AL West, a thin cushion for a team still waiting on Jacob deGrom, who is expected back Monday against the White Sox. Beating a 56-41 Braves club on the road — with the bullpen protecting a one-run lead over the final 3.1 innings a day after covering five — is the sort of win the first-place line depends on.
For fantasy managers, Latz, an All-Star with 19 saves, is a set-and-forget closer. Carter is worth an add in 12-team leagues while the power plays. Nimmo remains a steady OF3, Pederson is a strong-side platoon bat with 16 homers, and Gore’s seven strikeouts came with five earned runs — he is a talented but ratio-risky start until the early-inning trouble settles.
