Rangers hold off Orioles to win third straight

After struggling in July coming off Tommy John surgery, Martin Perez seems to have found his groove in August. Tonight he picked up his second win in five starts this month as he allowed just three runs in 6.1 innings of work en route to a 4-3 win over Baltimore.

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While he did allow his first homerun of the season, a solo shot to Steven Pearce, Perez was on point most of the night, throwing 84 pitches with 63 strikes. It was his second lowest pitch count of the month, with his lowest coming in the win over the Giants on August 2nd with 80 in 8.1 innings. Over his five August starts, his ERA was a very good 2.84. 

The Rangers got on the board first with a double by Shin-Soo Choo in the third to score Delino DeShields. Later in the third Adrian Beltre hit his second two run dinger in the last four games as he drove Choo in to make it 3-0. The Rangers held that lead until the top of the fifth, when the O’s struck.

Pearce got Baltimore on the board with his longball, then Paul Janish hit a sac fly to score Caleb Joseph to make it 3-2. Later Manny Machado hit an RBI single to score Dariel Alvarez to tie the game.

Jun 23, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus (1) hits a lead off double during the second inning against the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

In the bottom of the sixth, with two outs, Elvis Andrus hit a triple down the line in left that rolled to the wall. What should have been a double he stretched to three bases. After Will Venable was intentionally walked, Bobby Wilson delivered the go-ahead run with a double to left to score Andrus and make it 4-3.

For the next two innings, neither team produced much of a threat. Going to the top of the ninth, Shawn Tolleson came in looking for his 28th save of the season. Jonathan Schoop got a leadoff single, then moved to second on a weakly hit groundout to third. Alvarez was next, and he was walked. Ryan Flaherty came up next, and grounded into a fielder’s choice. Schoop moved to third with two outs and the tying run just 90 feet away. Baltimore had the guy they would want coming to the plate, young star Manny Machado. Tolleson quickly got him into an 0-2 hole, but from there Machado took a ball and fouled one off. Then on a fastball out of the zone Machado tried to lay off but went around for the last out as Texas held on for a 4-3 win. Perez (2-1) picked up the win while Ubaldo Jimenez (9-9) took the loss.

The series will conclude tomorrow at 2:05 central time as Derek Holland (1-1) looks for his second win, taking on Miguel Gonzalez (9-10).