MLB

Texas Rangers at Arizona Diamondbacks

· Major League Baseball
Texas Rangers
70-75, 29-41 Away
Final
0 - 6
Arizona Diamondbacks
81-64, 40-31 Home

Walker hits 2 homers, Gallen dominates on mound and the D-backs beat the Rangers 6-0

Arizona (81-64) is a half-game behind San Diego (82-64) for the top NL wild card, and the Braves and Mets (both 79-66) are two games back of the Diamondbacks and tied for the last playoff position.

Texas trails by seven games for the last AL wild card with 17 games left and needs to overcome five teams.

Joc Pederson and Walker hit back-to-back solo homers in the first for a 2-0 lead. Walker went deep again in third — going opposite field for the second straight time — to put Arizona up 4-0.

“Chase is a big park, so it's nice to know you can still be rewarded that way,” Walker said. “Sometimes it feels like you've got to crush it pull side and really get ahold of it to hit it out. It's nice to put a clean swing on a ball, hit it in the air, hit it hard and be rewarded.”

Walker hit his first two homers since returning Sept. 3 from an oblique injury and has 25 for the season. The first baseman also had a nifty defensive play, making an over-the-shoulder catch on a fly ball to short right.

Gallen (12-6) gave up two hits and two walks while striking out seven for his second straight dominant start. The right-hander threw six hitless and scoreless innings in a win over the Giants on Sept. 4.

“This is usually a game of runs,” Gallen said. “When you're feeling good, you're trying to harness it and stay hot for as long as you can. That's kind of what I'm doing.”

The D-backs bullpen of Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson, A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez gave up just one hit over four innings.

Pavin Smith, who hit a career-high three homers in a win over the Astros on Sunday, had an RBI double that made it 5-0 in the ninth. Jose Herrera's RBI double pushed it to 6-0.

The Rangers were back at Chase Field for the first time since beating the D-backs in Game 5 of the World Series on Nov. 1, which clinched the first Fall Classic in franchise history.

Nathan Eovaldi (11-8) — who threw six scoreless innings in that clinching Game 5 — was back on the mound Tuesday. He gave up four runs and seven hits over five innings, walking one and striking out six.

“I felt like I wasn't really locating my fastball and splitter tonight, and those two pitches really cost me,” Eovaldi said. “It didn't feel like I made as many adjustments as I should have tonight. I got a little stubborn.”

Wyatt Langford had two hits and two stolen bases for the Rangers. Josh Smith had the only other hit.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rangers: RHP Jacob deGrom and RHP Max Scherzer are expected to return to the starting rotation later this week. Manager Bruce Bochy said deGrom (Tommy John elbow surgery) will pitch Friday and Scherzer (shoulder) will be Saturday. DeGrom hasn't pitched in the big leagues since April 28, 2023.

Diamondbacks: C Gabriel Moreno (groin) and OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (calf) continue to progress. Manager Torey Lovullo hopes both can return before the regular season ends.

UP NEXT

The D-backs send RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 4.08 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday, while the Rangers counter with LHP Cody Bradford (5-2, 3.05 ERA) in the finale of the two-game series.

How can I watch Texas Rangers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks?
  • TV Channel: Rangers at Diamondbacks 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Diamondbacks: 64.6%
Rangers: 35.4%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Jung struck out swinging.
9th Inning Lowe struck out swinging.
9th Inning García lined out to right.
9th Inning Martinez relieved Puk
9th Inning Grichuk in left field.
8th Inning Carroll struck out swinging.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tex.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTEX https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/ari.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originARI
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 1
7 Ground Balls 10
13 Strikeouts 9
0 Runs Batted In 6
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
3 Hits 10
2 Stolen Bases 1
3 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
0 Runs 6
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
30 At Bats 34
0 Home Runs 3
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
11 Runners Left On Base 14
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 3
10 Fly Balls 15
0 Caught Stealing 0
153 Pitches 148
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 1
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
3 Total Bases 22
33 Plate Appearances 37
0.0 Projected Home Runs 486.0
0 Extra Base Hits 6
0.0 Runs Created 7.7
.100 Batting Average .294
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.100 Slugging Percentage .647
.167 Secondary Average .441
.182 On Base Percentage .351
.282 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .998
0.7 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.7
0.0 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 8.7
5.0 Batter Rating 50.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 11.3
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
4.64 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.00
.000 Isolated Power .353
0.23 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.22
.091 Walks Per Plate Appearance .054
.067 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .147
0.0 Runs Produced 12.0
0.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.2 Patience Ratio 0.7
0.2 Balls In Play Average 0.3
56.3 MLB Rating 95.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Chase Field

Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 25,499 | Capacity:

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6

2024 National League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Los Angeles 98 64 .605 - W5
San Diego 93 69 .574 5 L1
Arizona 89 73 .549 9 W1
San Francisco 80 82 .494 18 L1
Colorado 61 101 .377 37 L3
Full Standings