Corey Seager hit a grand slam and Jon Gray pitched seven strong innings as the visiting Texas Rangers opened a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles with a 12-2 win on Friday.
Leody Taveras went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, three RBIs and two runs for the Rangers. Josh Jung and Josh Smith each went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs, and Robbie Grossman added a two-run homer, a walk and two runs.
Gray (5-1) allowed a run on four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk for the Rangers, who won for the sixth time in their past seven games.
Adley Rutschman went 3-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk for Baltimore, which lost for just the second time in its past seven games.
Leading 2-1, the Rangers put the game away with an eight-run fourth inning, ending Baltimore rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez’s night in the process.
After Jung ripped a one-out triple down the right field line, he scored on Smith’s single to right. On the next pitch, Grossman blasted a two-run homer to right-center field to make it 5-1.
Taveras walked and took second on Sandy Leon’s single before Texas loaded the bases, when shortstop Jorge Mateo mishandled Marcus Semien’s grounder on what could have been an inning-ending double play.
On the next pitch, Seager delivered Rodriguez’s cutter over the center field fence for a grand slam and a 9-1 lead.
Rodriguez (2-2) left the game having allowed a season-high nine runs (eight earned) on just six hits with six strikeouts and three walks in just 3 1/3 innings.
Reliever Austin Voth walked Nathaniel Lowe, who took second on Adolis Garcia’s groundout before extending the lead to 10-1 on Jung’s single to center.
Terrin Vavra’s infield single in the eighth for Baltimore scored Ryan O’Hearn to make it 10-2.
The Rangers scored two runs in the ninth against emergency reliever Ryan McKenna, who normally plays in the outfield.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead on Rutschman’s first-inning homer before the Rangers seized the lead for good in the second inning on Taveras’ two-run shot.
–Field Level Media
