29-31 – Rangers run winning streak to four with 2-1 win over St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Texas Rangers shortstop Ezequiel Duran (20) reacts after hitting a one run double against the St. Louis Cardinals

The Texas Rangers scored two runs while the St. Louis Cardinals scored one run.

Tonight’s game was so low scoring you’d think it were played at The Shed pre-Chris Young turning off the run suppression machine last week.

The Rangers starters have been doing their part to keep runs down of late. In fact, after five scoreless from Jacob deGrom in tonight’s opener, Texas starters have gone 27 innings combined without allowing a run. That’s the second longest scoreless streak from members of the rotation in franchise history.

The last time a Rangers starter allowed a run was when Nathan Eovaldi coughed up a couple in the third inning against Houston last Thursday. Tonight deGrom had a relatively easy time keeping the spotless stretch alive. Aside from running his pitching count a little higher than he’d probably like, deGrom got better as the game went along.

The veteran deGrom allowed four hits with only one of them going for extra bases as he worked around a two-out second inning double from Victor Scott with Nolan Gorman matching his third base counterpart Josh Jung in footspeed on the bases to hold up at third base on the two-bagger.

That eventually erased threat followed a first inning where it seemed like Texas had left their gloves in Arlington as a couple of misplays in the infield forced deGrom to have to wiggle out of a first inning jam. The first inning has been deGrom’s kryptonite all year so it was nice to see him escape with a zero on the board, which paved the way for more to come.

Though he lasted just five innings on 91 pitches, deGrom also walked only one batter and struck out eight in his first win on the road since beating the Los Angeles Dodgers back in mid-April nine starts ago.

Meanwhile, while deGrom was dealing, the Rangers lineup were getting similar treatment from Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy. However, Texas was able to break through with a run in the top of the fourth via a two-out RBI double from Ezequiel Duran which scored Brandon Nimmo all the way from first base.

The Rangers tacked on another run an inning later when Joc Pederson worked his way back from an 0-2 count to line a single up the middle to score Danny Jansen who had walked and stolen his first base of the season.

The Rangers couldn’t add to the lead that inning despite a rally and it nearly cost them in such a close game as St. Louis scored their first and only run in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out solo home run by Masyn Winn off Peyton Gray in the first frame after deGrom had exited.

But after some shaky games from the bullpen over the last week or so, the high leverage relief arms were up to the task tonight as Tyler Alexander, Jakob Junis, and Jacob Latz each tossed a scoreless inning apiece to shepherd the Rangers to their first four-game winning streak since taking four in a row at the end of March.

Player of the Game: deGrom produced a solid start and Pederson deserves praise for his RBI hit that ultimately proved the difference, but Duran got the ball rolling with his two-out RBI double that got Texas on the board. Later, he utilized his speed to pressure St. Louis third baseman Gorman into a poor throw on an infield single where he reached second base to represent a potential insurance run in a one-run game in the ninth.

The Rangers flubbed the chance and Duran didn’t score which meant we had to sweat out the bottom of the ninth a little more than we should have but Duran has continued to come up with big hits for a Rangers lineup that often has a shortage of them.

Up Next: The Rangers and Cardinals are back at it tomorrow with RHP Nathan Eovaldi passed the starter scoreless streak baton for Texas opposite RHP Dustin May for St. Louis.

The Tuesday evening first pitch from Busch Stadium is once again scheduled for 6:45 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.