Jonah Heim hit a three-run homer, Andrew Heaney pitched five scoreless innings with only two hits allowed, and the Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Sunday to avoid being swept in a rematch from last year’s postseason.
Anthony Santander narrowed the gap with his 27th home run, his third of the series, in the eighth inning. Despite this, Texas managed to hold on to avoid ending the season with a 2-5 record against the Orioles. Last year, the Rangers swept the Orioles in the AL Division Series en route to winning their first World Series title.
In late June, the Orioles won three out of four games at home against the Rangers, with Texas salvaging the final game of that series.
“It’s crucial not to get swept here at home,” commented Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. “They dominated us in the first two games, so we needed to stop that.”
Heaney (4-10) walked three batters and struck out four in his 14th consecutive start of allowing three or fewer earned runs. This streak has significantly lowered Heaney’s ERA from 6.26 to 3.60, marking the longest such streak of his career.
Bochy made a visit to the mound with two outs in the fifth inning when Heaney’s pitch count reached 95 after Gunnar Henderson doubled. Adley Rutschman grounded out to third on Heaney’s 100th pitch.
“(Bochy) came out to check on him, but kept interrupting him, trying to get the scouting report down,” said catcher Heim. “I found that pretty amusing. It lightened the mood and got everyone on the same page.”
Heim had been struggling with a 1-for-17 slump before hitting the home run in the fourth inning, giving Texas a 3-0 lead with two outs. He pulled the first pitch from Dean Kremer, an 85 mph splitter down the middle, into the Texas bullpen in right-center field. Wyatt Langford and Nathaniel Lowe had walked prior to the homer.
Kremer (4-6) allowed three runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. This game was Kremer’s first appearance against the Rangers since his rough outing in the postseason last October, where he gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings during the Rangers’ 7-1 win to clinch the ALDS at home.
