Rookie Wyatt Langford’s single scored pinch-runner Ezequiel Duran with two outs in the ninth inning, leading the Texas Rangers to a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jonah Heim and Adolis García both hit singles off David Bednar (3-6). Duran, who was running for Heim, moved to third base after Nathaniel Lowe hit a flyout to deep right field. Bednar then struck out Josh Jung on a 3-2 fastball after García stole second base. Langford then hit an RBI single to center field on a 2-1 curveball.
The Rangers, who had dropped from being third in the majors in runs last year on their way to winning the World Series to 18th this year, had been 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position before Langford’s single.
“Anytime you’re in that situation you want to get a big hit,” Langford said. “It was cool to come through.”
The winning run ended a streak of 22 scoreless innings in the series for the Rangers, who won two of the three games against the Pirates and ended a run of seven consecutive lost series.
Kirby Yates (5-2) pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four games.
Rangers starter Andrew Heaney threw five scoreless innings, giving up five hits and one walk while striking out eight. The 33-year-old left-hander came into the game with the most losses in MLB at 13 and the eighth-lowest run support in the American League at 3.84 runs per game. He received no run support on Wednesday.
“Good stuff. Location. Poise, which he usually has with men on base,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Heaney. “The record’s not indicative of how he’s been throwing the ball.”
Pittsburgh’s Domingo Germán pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three singles and four walks in his first major league start this year.
