Giants Unable to Keep Rangers Down Over 11 Innings, Lose 3-4
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBS SF/AP) — Following a dominant performance during their 9-4 win the night before, the San Francisco Giants lost 4-3 after an 11-inning battle with the Texas Rangers Wednesday.
Brock Holt hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 11th inning, securing the second win for the Rangers in 14 games.
Holt lined a single to center off lefty Jake McGee (2-2) after the Giants intentionally walked leadoff hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa to get to the left-handed hitter.
Nate Lowe, who had a tying pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, started the 11th on second base. There were two popups before he scored to end the Rangers' fourth walk-off win this season. They are 7-2 in extra innings and ended a 13-game interleague losing streak that had matched a major league record.
Brett Martin (1-2), the fourth Rangers pitcher, allowed one hit while working both extra innings.
Sammy Long struck out seven over four innings in an impressive major league debut for the Giants, while Jason Vosler and Chadwick Tromp hit back-to-back homers off AL ERA leader Kyle Gibson.
The Rangers tied the game at 2-2 in the ninth off sidearm-throwing Tyler Rogers the fifth San Francisco pitcher, who also pitched the 10th after his fourth blown save in 12 chances. Kiner-Falefa had a leadoff single in the ninth, stole second and scored on Adolis Garcia's popup that dropped in right field.
Both teams got their runners home from second base in the 10th. Mauricio Dubon moved up for the Giants when Tromp singled before scoring on a double-play grounder. Lowe's sac fly came after Willie Calhoun moved to third on Nick Solak's liner to right starting the 10th.
The Giants, still with the NL's best record at 38-23, matched a 20-year-old club record with multiple homers in their seventh consecutive road game. They are 2-5 in extra innings.
Long, who three years ago had decided to stop playing baseball after being released by Tampa Bay on the final day of spring training, had a stretch when he struck out five consecutive batters. The 25-year-old lefty came on in the second inning as planned, throwing 47 of 69 pitches for strikes after Zack Littell was used as an opener in his first big league start since 2018.
Eli White's leadoff double in the sixth was the first Rangers hit, chasing Long, and White scored on a groundout by Kiner-Falefa that cut the deficit to 2-1.
Gibson struck out five and walked two over six innings, and the only runs he allowed were homers by Vosler and Tromp starting the fourth. The right-hander's AL-best ERA went up slightly to 2.13, still better than New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole's 2.26 going into his scheduled start Wednesday night.
