Series Recap: Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Dodgers 6/11-6/13

After a much-needed day off, the Texas Rangers opened a six-game road trip with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium from Tuesday to Thursday. If you missed it, Texas avoided a three-game sweep with a 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Field on Sunday. Without further ado, read on for my Rangers at Dodgers series recap.

Tuesday, June 11

The Rangers suffered a 15-2 blowout by the Dodgers in a lopsided series opener. Texas fell to 31-35, while Los Angeles improved to 42-26. Rangers starting pitcher Dane Dunning pitched just 3 2/3 innings and gave up four hits, six earned runs, three walks, and two strikeouts before exiting the game early. Meanwhile, Dodgers starting pitcher James Paxton, also known as Big Maple, had a solid outing, pitching six innings and giving up two hits, one earned run, two walks, and two strikeouts. The Dodgers got off to a good start. Will Smith homered on a fly ball to left-center field. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman scored to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Rangers got on the board. Ezequiel Duran was out on a sacrifice fly to Jason Heyward. Wyatt Langford scored to cut the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1 in the top of the second inning with two outs. The Dodgers had an offensive explosion. Mookie Betts doubled on a sharp line drive to Wyatt Langford. Gavin Lux, Andy Pages, and Jason Heyward scored to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Dodgers tacked on a run. Gavin Lux singled on a line drive to Adolis Garcia. Freddie Freeman scored to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 7-1. Teoscar Hernandez went to second base.

The Dodgers reached a double-digit score and fired on all cylinders. Shohei Ohtani homered on a fly ball to right-center field. Mookie Betts scored to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 9-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Freddie Freeman homered on a fly ball to left center field to give the Dodgers a 10-1 lead. Teoscar Hernandez homered on a fly ball to left-center field. Will Smith scored to expand the Dodgers’ lead to 12-1. Jason Heyward homered on a fly ball to right field. Andy Pages scored to put the Dodgers up 14-1. The Rangers tacked on a run, but it was too late. Ezequiel Duran homered on a fly ball to left-center field to cut the Dodgers’ lead to 14-2 in the top of the seventh inning. The Dodgers tacked on a run. Miguel Vargas was out on a sacrifice fly to Wyatt Langford. Shohei Ohtani scored to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 15-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Rangers got blown out by the Dodgers 15-2 after nine innings. For Texas, Ezequiel Duran went 1-for-3 with one home run, one strikeout, and two RBIs. And, for LA, Evan Phillips pitched one inning and garnered one strikeout.

Wednesday, June 12

The Rangers fended off the Dodgers’ late scare and held on for a 3-2 win in a low-scoring middle game. Texas improved to 32-35, while Los Angeles fell to 42-27. The starting pitcher for the Rangers, Jon Gray, pitched just three innings and gave up four hits, one earned run, one walk, and three strikeouts. Meanwhile, Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler had a slightly better outing, pitching five innings and giving up seven hits, two earned runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. The Dodgers got on the board first. Shohei Ohtani homered on a fly ball to center field for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Rangers finally got on the board. Corey Seager homered on a fly ball to right center field. Leody Taveras and Marcus Semien scored to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, David Robertson took the mound and accomplished a feat no other pitcher in the MLB has done. Robertson faced the Dodgers’ fiercest three hitters, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman, and struck out all three in succession, with Freeman being the only batter to face more than three pitches. The Dodgers made it a one-run game, but that was all she wrote. Jason Heyward doubled on a sharp line drive to Leody Taveras. Will Smith scored to cut the Rangers’ lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Andy Pages was out at home on a daring and incredibly accurate relay by Taveras, Marcus Semien, and Jonan Heim. The Rangers beat the Dodgers 3-2 after nine innings. Kirby Yates pitched one inning for Texas and gave up one earned run. And, for LA, Jason Heyward went 1-for-3 with one RBI, one walk, and two strikeouts.

Thursday, June 13

The Rangers held on for a 3-1 win over the Dodgers in the rubber match. Texas won the series 2-1. Texas improved to 33-35, while Los Angeles fell to 42-28. Rangers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen had a solid outing, pitching seven innings and giving up four hits, one earned run, one walk, and two strikeouts. Meanwhile, Dodgers starting pitcher Michael Grove pitched just one inning and gave up three hits and two earned runs before exiting the game. The Rangers quickly opened the scoring. Nathaniel Lowe grounded out sharply to Mookie Betts and then Freddie Freeman. Josh Smith scored for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Adolis Garcia went to second base with two outs. Wyatt Langford singled on a line drive to Jason Heyward. Garcia scored to make it a 2-0 game. The Rangers tacked on a run. Wyatt Langford singled on a soft fly ball to Freddie Freeman. Adolis Garcia scored to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Nathaniel Lowe went to third base. The Dodgers finally got on the board. Andy Pages homered on a fly ball to left field to cut the Rangers’ lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

David Roberston once again took the mound in the bottom of the 8th inning. While this outing was not nearly as clean as the night prior, he defeated the Dodgers’ trio again. He gave up two baserunners in that outing with a hit-by-pitch and a single. There were two runners on when Mookie Betts came to the plate. Once again, Robertson needed only three pitches to sit down both Betts and Ohtani and five to sit down Freeman. The Rangers beat the Dodgers 3-1 after nine innings. For Texas, Kirby Yates pitched one inning and gave up three strikeouts. And, for LA, Will Smith went 0-for-1 with one strikeout.