WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Texas Rangers have placed eight players on the injured list in the last two weeks. They may be without arguably their three most important players for the remainder of the season. They’ve reached a make-or-break juncture of the season with less than a month left to play before the postseason.
They continue to win nonetheless.
The Rangers beat the Athletics 5-2 at Sutter Health Park Friday to win for a sixth time in their last seven games. The series-opening victory was led by a lineup that lacked at least five of their regular starters and a rookie pitcher on a hot streak.
Right-hander Jack Leiter, who owns a 3.77 ERA through 24 starts in his first full big league season, pitched six innings of two-run ball for his second straight quality start. He cruised for two innings before the Athletics scored a pair of runs on a bases-loaded Brent Rooker double in the third to tie the game.
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The 25-year-old finished with three consecutive scoreless innings, though, before he was replaced by left-hander Hoby Milner in the seventh. Leiter, who rode a hard-thrown curveball to a career-best day in his previous start vs. the Cleveland Guardians, weaponized the changeup that he revamped in spring training on Friday night.
He threw his changeup 26 times. The Athletics swung at 14 of them and missed on seven for a 50% whiff rate. The seven swings-and-misses were the most he’d ever generated with his changeup and the second-most he’d gotten on any pitch in a single start.
The Rangers scored twice in the second inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from catcher Jonah Heim and a two-out single from first baseman Dylan Moore against Athletics left-handed starter Jeffrey Springs.
Moore, who was signed to a minor league deal Tuesday after the Seattle Mariners released him last week, was promoted to the big league roster Friday after the Rangers placed shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list following his appendectomy. He shifted to second base — left unoccupied because of Marcus Semien’s foot injury — when super utility man Josh Smith pinch hit for rookie Cody Freeman against right-hander Michael Kelly.
Heim hit a go-ahead home run off Springs in the fifth inning to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. The 30-year-old catcher had hit just one home run in the season’s second half before Friday’s game and yielded a .608 OPS in the 27 games during that span.
Outfielder Michael Helman, who was called up last week to replaced center fielder Evan Carter after a fractured wrist ended his season, hit a two-run home run vs. Kelly in the seventh inning. Helman, 29, has three career home runs; two have been hit within the last week.
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