ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Danny Jansen chuckled after saying he didn't really want to have to catch another inning in what had already been an active game behind the plate.
Jansen didn't have to after he delivered the walk-off hit that gave the Texas Rangers a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, when the closers for both teams gave up three runs in a frantic ninth inning.
“I feel like the game had everything. Like passed balls, a couple
of wild pitches, I mean, stolen bases, threw somebody out,” said Jansen, who also blocked a few pitches with runners on base. “A bit of everything, it was kind of a wild one. ... Definitely a crazy finish.”
The Rangers had just tied the game and chased Paul Sewald (0-4), who had converted his first nine save chances, when No. 9 batter Jansen grounded a RBI single down the line into the left-field corner on the only pitch thrown by Juan Morillo.
That came after a frustrating top of the ninth for the Rangers, when Jacob Latz — their main closer since halfway through a stretch of 10 consecutive scoreless outings — failed to retire any of the four batters he faced. He was gone after Nolan Arenado had an RBI double and Ildemaro Vargas lined a two-run single into left for a 5-3 lead.
“Latz has been so good this year. He has given up next to no runs," manager Skip Schumaker said. “I pitched him two innings, day off, then back-to-back, and then running him out there, maybe not fair to him quite honestly.”
But when it was over, Latz was all smiles like every one else after the Rangers had clinched back-to-back-series wins for the first time since their first two series of the season.
“The boys picked him up in a big way,” Schumaker said. “And that’s what good teams do, and good teammates do, is they pick each other up.”
The Rangers (21-22) have won five of their last six games going into an off day Thursday.
Arizona (20-22) overcame a 3-0 deficit, finally getting even and then going ahead in the top of the ninth, handing their closer a two-run lead even after leaving 13 runners on base.
Sewald got out two of the first three batters in the ninth, starting with a strikeout of struggling shortstop Corey Seager. Josh Jung had a single in between those outs, and scored on Ezequiel Duran's double before Alejandro Osuna walked on five pitches and Jake Burger tied the game with an RBI single to chase the closer.
“I felt like they were just on every pitch,” Sewald said. “It just felt like when I threw good pitchers, it didn't matter.”
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