The Texas Rangers experienced the full range of emotions in their epic, heartbreaking extra-inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles Monday. Things looked bleak for Texas after Gunnar Henderson’s two-run homer gave Baltimore the lead in the 10th inning. A Colton Cowser solo shot put the Orioles up 6-3 as the Rangers came up in the bottom half of the 10th.
Then Adolis Garcia hit a game-tying three-run bomb that got the home crowd hyped up.
With one out and runners on first and third, Garcia worked the count full against Keegan Akin. Not wanting to bring the winning run to the plate by issuing a walk, the Orioles reliever took a little off his fastball but left it right over the heart of the plate. And Garcia did not miss.
Adolis Garcia ties the game with clutch, extra-inning home run
The All-Star right fielder demolished Akin’s middle-middle 92 mph four-seamer, blasting it 417 feet to left center and tying the score 6-6. And Garcia celebrated the moment.
Garcia had one of the more memorable reactions to a home run this season. He dropped his bat and flexed multiple times at home plate. Garcia didn’t even leave the batter’s box to begin his home run trot until after his mammoth blast had clanged off the facade of the second deck.
Despite pumping up the crowd with his game-tying dong, the Rangers were unable to capitalize on the momentum Garcia created and Akin got out of the inning with the score knotted at six apiece.
Then, in the top of the 11th inning, Baltimore silenced Rangers fans by adding four runs, capped by Henderson’s two-run double off Texas reliever Hoby Milner. The Orioles took a 10-6 advantage into the bottom of the 11th. That lead proved too much for the Rangers to overcome as Andrew Kittredge worked a 1-2-3 inning for Baltimore, ending a dramatic, unpredictable matchup.
Garcia almost played hero for the Rangers for the second time this month. He went 2-5 with a home run, 3 RBI and a stolen base in a losing effort.
After a four-game winning streak earlier this month, the Rangers have gone just 5-8, falling to 41-44 on the season. Texas is now 9.5 games behind the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West.
However, the Rangers will send ace Jacob deGrom to the mound for Game 2 against the Orioles. DeGrom has been dominant in a bounce-back season, even taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start. He’s 8-2 with a 2.08 ERA, 0.881 WHIP, 181 ERA+ and 3.0 bWAR in 16 starts this year.
