Ezequiel Duran capped a four-RBI outing with a deep run-scoring double to right with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Texas Rangers a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night at Arlington, Texas.
Duran went 3-for-5 and won the game with an opposite-field drive over the head of San Francisco’s Jung Hoo Lee, who fell down on the warning track as the ball landed to his left and bounced over the wall while Jake Burger scored the winning run.
Duran also ripped a tiebreaking two-run double to right in the eighth as the Rangers halted a season-worst six-game slide. Duran is 7-for-9 with a homer and five RBIs in the first two contests of the three-game set.
Corey Seager (two runs) and Brandon Nimmo (one RBI) joined Duran in collecting three hits for the Rangers, who snapped a streak of 40 innings without holding a lead by scoring two runs in the opening frame.
Bryce Eldridge hit a tying two-run single in the ninth for San Francisco. Osleivis Basabe hit a two-run homer for the Giants, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
Burger smacked a double to left on the first pitch in the ninth from Dylan Smith (0-4). One out later, Seager was walked intentionally before Nimmo struck out.
Lee was playing medium range in right and Duran hit a ball over his head for the second straight at-bat, this one ending the contest.
Texas held a two-run lead entering the ninth before All-Star Jacob Latz (3-1) blew a save for the third time in 24 opportunities.
Drew Gilbert lined a one-out single and Grant McCray drew a walk and both runners moved up on Elias Diaz’s passed ball. Eldridge followed with a two-run single to right to tie the score at 4.
Texas starter MacKenzie Gore pitched six scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, three walks and struck out four.
San Francisco’s Blade Tidwell allowed two runs and six hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Wyatt Langford walked against JT Brubaker to start the eighth before Reiver Sanmartin entered. Seager singled to center and Nimmo reached on an infield single before Duran shot an opposite-field liner over the head of Lee for a two-run double that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead.
The Rangers pushed across two runs in the first to hold a lead for the first time since Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Nimmo’s double got Texas on the board and Duran singled to score Seager.
The Giants tied the score in the seventh. Gilbert drew a leadoff walk against Chase Silseth, who retired the next two batters before Basabe drilled a tying homer to left.
