ATLANTA (AP) — Brandon Nimmo’s in the sixth inning gave Texas the lead as the Rangers rallied from an early deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 on Saturday in a matchup of first-place teams.
Texas left-hander MacKenzie Gore (6-8) gave up a two-run homer to Eli White in Atlanta’s four-run second inning and another homer to Michael Harris II the following inning. After giving up five runs in the first three innings, Gore gave up no more runs while pitching 5 2/3 innings.
All-Star left-hander Jacob Latz recorded the final four outs for his 19th save.
Evan Carter hit a two-run homer off Tyler Kinley (5-4) in the sixth as the Rangers pulled even at 5-5. Dylan Lee allowed infield singles to Wyatt Langford and Josh Jung before Nimmo’s two-run single up the middle gave the Rangers the lead. Nimmo drove in three runs with two hits.
Braves right-hander Owen Murphy allowed three runs, two earned, in 2 2/3 innings in his first major league start.
Murphy, who made two relief appearances before his first start, was hurt by Mauricio Dubón’s fielding error in the Rangers’ two-run third inning. Dubón collided with Harris on Kyle Higashioka’s fly ball to center field. Langford and Nimmo had run-scoring singles in the inning.
Dubón’s run-scoring double in the seventh trimmed the Rangers’ lead to 7-6.
The Braves had 19 hits in Friday’s to open the series.
Up next
Braves RHP Grant Holmes (5-4, 3.61 ERA) will start in Sunday’s final game of the series. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said RHP Nate Eovaldi (9-7, 4.04), who has been out with an illness, is tentatively set to start.
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