Michael Lorenzen pitched a season-high seven innings, and rookie Wyatt Langford contributed two RBI singles, leading the Texas Rangers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. This win secured the Rangers’ first series victory at Dodger Stadium since 1999.
“Just a terrific job how they battled and played defense,” said Texas manager Bruce Bochy.
Rangers reliever David Robertson struck out MVPs Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman consecutively for the second night in a row—the only pitcher to accomplish this feat this season—maintaining a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning.
“I just had to dig deep,” Robertson said. “We walked away with a series win, which we haven’t had in a while.”
Texas won two out of three games from the NL West leaders, rebounding after a 15-2 rout in the opener where the Dodgers hit five home runs, including four in one inning. This time, the Rangers’ pitching effectively shut down LA’s offense.
Texas Rangers relief pitcher Kirby Yates reacts after striking out Los Angeles Dodgers’ Will Smith for the final out of a baseball game Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Los Angeles
Betts, Ohtani—who homered in each of the first two games—and Freeman collectively went 2 for 12 with three strikeouts.
“There are always going to be stretches of ups and downs both for the team and individually,” Ohtani said through a translator. “When things aren’t going well, we scrutinize everything. My approach remains the same: putting up quality at-bats.”
Robertson remarked that he felt fortunate to retire Ohtani again. “I had the advantage,” he said. “He hasn’t faced me a lot.”
Lorenzen (4-3) gave up one run and four hits, striking out two and walking one. This marked his career-best sixth consecutive start allowing two or fewer runs.
Kirby Yates, the Rangers’ 37-year-old closer, secured his 10th save, needing 26 pitches to complete the ninth inning.
“What a gutsy effort,” Bochy said. “That’s impressive.” The Dodgers didn’t score until rookie Andy Pages hit a homer just inside the left-field foul pole in the seventh, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
In the eighth, with runners on the corners and no outs for the first time all night, Robertson struck out Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman in succession. He got ahead 0-2 on all three, and each went down swinging.
“It was my turn to win a battle against them because they’ve been beating me up so badly,” Robertson said. Michael Grove (4-3) took the loss in his first start since April 28, giving up two runs and three hits in one inning as the opener in a bullpen game.
This series win marked only the Rangers’ second in Los Angeles and their first since 1999. Bochy improved his record to 109-109 at Dodger Stadium, the most wins by an opposing manager in the stadium’s history.
Texas jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI groundout and Langford’s two-out RBI single. Langford added another RBI single in the third inning. Adolis García had two hits and scored twice for the defending World Series champions.
For the Rangers, SS Corey Seager was scratched to save him for a three-game series against the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners. He had homered Wednesday after missing four consecutive games due to a hamstring issue.
For the Dodgers, LHP Clayton Kershaw (elbow) threw a three-inning simulated game and is progressing better than expected. RHP Bobby Miller (shoulder) made a rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City. RHP Ryan Brasier (calf) was placed on the 60-day IL.