*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
How's that for a slump buster? Nathaniel Lowe drove in two runs, Corey Seager homered twice, and the Texas Rangers defeated the Minnesota Twins with a 6-2 victory Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The Rangers entered the series finale on the brink of being swept thanks to 6 straight losses to go with losses in 12 of their last 14 games. That is now avoided with the win, as the offense scored more than 4 runs in a game for the first time since May 8 against the Oakland Athletics, when they scored 12.
After a scoreless first two innings, Seager got the party started in the 3rd, blasting a two run home run to right field, putting the Rangers ahead on his 10th home run of the season. Lowe made it a 3-0 lead in the top of the 4th with an RBI single. Jonah Heim added on as Leody Taveras scored on a force out to make it a 4-0 game.
Max Kepler got the Twins on the board in the bottom of the 4th thanks to an RBI double that scored Carlos Correa. Seager hit his second home run of the game in the 5th and Lowe hit an RBI single to make it a 6-1 Rangers lead. In the bottom of the 5th, Willi Castro scored on a Carlos Correa double to make it a 6-2 game.
Gerson Garabito made his MLB debut as the starting pitcher for the Rangers, working 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Jonathan Hernandez pitched one inning before Jacob Latz got the win with two scoreless innings. Jose Leclerc pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings after Latz to seal the win.
Garabito said after the game that "First of all, I feel so happy about this. It was something I was waiting for a long time, and then today it happened to me. It was like, ‘Wow, I did it.’ When I signed, I had a plan, but I didn’t expect to be here at this time. But it’s God’s plan. That’s the only thing I can say."
Pablo Lopez lasted 4 2/3 innings for the Twins in his start, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and a walk. Kody Funderburk pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Jorge Alcala added two scoreless innings of his own. Josh Staumont worked a scoreless 9th.
Lopez said of his start that "It makes me mad more than anything. I haven’t been giving the team length or quality innings or good performances to keep them going. It’s a matter of making adjustments. I’m still not sure what that could be. I do know that something needs to change, and hopefully it happens quicker rather than later."
The Rangers have Monday off before welcoming the Arizona Diamondbacks to town Tuesday, with Dane Dunning lined up to start the series opener. The Twins host the Kansas City Royals Monday afternoon with Joe Ryan getting the start.
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