Adolis Garcia came through with a clutch RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning, giving the Texas Rangers the walk-off win against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. The hard-fought 5-4 victory was the Rangers’ third straight win. But manager Bruce Bochy didn’t see it.
In the previous inning, Bochy was convinced the third base umpire incorrectly rang up Corey Seager on a check swing. The argument continued between innings and Bochy got ejected. It was the veteran manager’s 88th-career ejection, tying him with Frankie Frisch for sixth on the all-time list, per MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry.
Bruce Bochy fires up Rangers with ejection
The Rangers had something cooking in the bottom of the 10th. Seager stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two out looking to end the game with a base hit. On a 2-2 count, White Sox reliever Tyler Alexander threw an 82 mph sweeper out of the zone and Seager chased, possibly pulling his bat back at the last second.
The appeal was made to the third base umpire, who said Seager went around and the inning ended with three base runners stranded.
Thirteen different pitchers were used in the 11-inning game. The White Sox sent seven pitchers to the mound while the Rangers employed six. But Jacob deGrom drew the start for Texas and the two-time Cy Young winner continued his dominant streak. DeGrom allowed two runs on five hits and zero walks with six strikeouts in six innings.
Despite the quality start, deGrom exited with his team trailing 2-1 as the Rangers’ offense struggled early on. However, Texas scored two runs in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead, ensuring deGrom wouldn’t get the loss.
In a bounce-back season after two injury-plagued years, deGrom is now 6-2 with a 2.19 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 2.4 bWAR in 14 starts. There have been trade rumors involving deGrom this season, based on the Rangers’ slow start. However, given the veteran ace’s injury history, a robust market is unlikely to develop.
The Rangers have actually won six of their last seven games, improving to 35-36. But Texas remains in third place in the AL West and 5.5 games behind the division-leading Houston Astros.
The disappointing season could be Bochy’s last as the 70-year-old manager could walk away after 2025. If Bochy does decide to depart, the Rangers will likely replace him with Skip Schumaker.
