Field Level Media
Apr 11, 2019
The Texas offense recovered after five no-hit innings from Arizona's Robbie Ray, and the Rangers bullpen held on to support a strong outing from Lance Lynn as the Rangers beat the Diamondbacks 5-2 Wednesday night in Phoenix.
Lynn (1-1) allowed one run and four hits in six innings, striking out nine and walking two. The right-hander improved to 6-0 in 10 career starts against the Diamondbacks.
Texas closer Jose Leclerc, who coughed up a 4-2 lead in the ninth Tuesday in a 5-4 loss, got into more trouble after being given a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth in a non-save situation.
He loaded the bases with no outs on a single and two hit batters before getting Wilmer Flores to foul out to the catcher, bringing up Jarrod Dyson, whose two-run homer was the walk-off hit Tuesday.
Dyson drew a walk to make it 5-2, chasing Leclerc from the game.
Left-hander Kyle Bird struck out Eduardo Escobar swinging on a 3-2 slider, and the game ended when Rangers first baseman Logan Forsythe made a diving catch to snag a liner down the line from David Peralta that could have tied the game.
Bird earned his first save of the season.
Texas leadoff man Delino DeShields Jr., who entered hitting .107 (3-for-28) went 2-for-4 with a walk. He scored the Rangers' first run in the sixth inning after he broke up Ray's no-hitter to lead off the inning, and DeShields' two-out single in the seventh gave Texas a 2-1 lead.
Hunter Pence hit his first home run of the season in the eighth for a 3-1 lead. Texas added two more runs in the ninth off Matt Andriese as the Rangers managed a split of the two-game series. Arizona reliever Andrew Chafin (0-1) took the loss.
Ray allowed one run and two hits in five-plus innings, striking out 10 and walking one. It was his 17th career game with double-digit strikeouts, third-best in franchise history.
DeShields led off the sixth with a sharp single to center. He stole second and kept going to third on a throwing error by catcher Carson Kelly. Forsythe's RBI single past drawn-in shortstop Nick Ahmed chased Ray after 95 pitches.
--Field Level Media