ARLINGTON, Texas — When the Rangers City Connect uniforms were unveiled earlier in the week, Marcus Semien had the most accurate review of the new designs.
“If we win in them,” he said, “everybody will love them.”
Based on that, they may never see the light of day again. On Friday, everything seemed lined up for the uniform debut to go smoothly. Cash registers were in top working order for the big merchandise play; card swipers were oiled up and checked out. And the Rangers even brought in Oakland, the worst team in the majors, fresh off news that A’s ownership had entered into a real estate negotiation to once, and for all, abandon the city.
And then? Well, the Rangers somehow wasted a four-run first inning and lost, 5-4, on a ninth-inning pinch-hit homer. It snapped the Rangers’ four-game winning streak.
As debuts go, there have been better. The cream jersey tops and darker-than-navy blue pants with the modern gothic design and the mythical “Peagle” — a Panther-Eagle hybrid — logo looked sharp. The Rangers: Not so much.
Starter Jon Gray struggled with command. The offense shut down after the first. A couple of defensive plays went unmade. The A’s chipped away thanks to walks, errors, wild pitches and ultimately a two-out run-scoring single by Esteury Ruiz in the sixth that bounced off third baseman Josh Jung and past shortstop Ezequiel Duran. In the ninth, pinch hitter Jordan Diaz greeted Will Smith with a go-ahead homer.
Gray was struck by a line drive at Houston in the third inning last week and immediately left the game with what ended up being a bruise. He had maintained all week that the only soreness he felt was tenderness to the touch; it didn’t bother him to pitch.
Something, however, was amiss. He walked five, hit a batter and threw two wild pitches. It was the first time he’d walked as many as five hitters since July 24, 2019, while still with Colorado.
He took a 4-1 lead to the fifth, but allowed a leadoff homer to No. 8 hitter Tony Kemp, who had been in an 0-for-23 slump, walked two and threw a wild pitch. It was 4-3 when the inning ended. Somewhat surprisingly, he went out for the sixth, allowed a hit, hit a batter and was removed with one out. Jonathan Hernández, allowed the inherited runner to score on a two-out single.
It erased a 4-0 lead the Rangers had grabbed before the first inning was over, thanks mostly to Jonah Heim’s two-out, three-run homer. It was the fifth straight game in which the Rangers had a homer with at least two men on base.
Briefly
GM Chris Young expounded Friday on C Mitch Garver’s knee sprain that is likely to keep him out at least another month. The Rangers initially thought it would be a relatively short-term injury. While Garver had relatively minor symptoms, an MRI revealed a more significant sprain that required longer rest. … At Class A Down East, it appears that RHP Brock Porter, the Rangers’ fourth-round pick a year ago, has overcome some debut jitters. Since failing to make it out of the first in his pro debut, Porter has allowed four hits and a pair of runs in 7 1/3 innings. He has struck out 11. That included four innings of work on Friday.
