Yovani Gallardo brings out the best in the Texas Rangers’ hitters. Good thing for him he is on their side.
Gallardo has enjoyed unusually strong run support since returning to the majors after a two-month stint with Triple-A Round Rock. The Rangers averaged 11
runs per game in his three June
starts
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White Sox on Friday when they blasted five home runs.
Gallardo hopes he will continue to be a good luck charm when he starts the opener of a four-game series against the Tigers in Detroit on Thursday
night.
“This is what they do,” Gallardo told MLB.com and other reporters afterward. “This is the kind of offense we have here. It definitely makes it easier, but
yet it is one of those things where you can’t allow it to get out of hand as
well. You’ve just got to keep it tight in the strike zone and get some quick
outs.”
Gallardo (2-0, 9.00 ERA) didn’t require an offensive explosion from his team against the White Sox, as he delivered his best outing of the season. He tossed
7 1/3 innings on just 90 pitches, giving up three runs on four hits and striking
out seven.
“He was in control the whole time,” Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos told MLB.com. “I think he built from that last outing (5 1/3 innings) in Minnesota.
It was the same thing; he’s throwing really well.”
Gallardo, who was released by Cincinnati in April, is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three career starts against the Tigers, but he has not faced them since
2015.
He’ll be opposed by left-hander Matthew Boyd (4-6, 4.18), one of several Detroit pitchers who could be dealt this season.
Boyd has gone winless in his last four starts, though his last start was a quality outing at Toronto. He gave up three runs on four hits over six innings
and posted seven strikeouts, his highest total since May 17.
The Rangers have given Boyd fits in the past. He is 1-4 with a 5.53 ERA in five career starts against them. Chirinos has homered twice against Boyd in
seven career at-bats.
Detroit will try to bounce back from two road losses to the streaking Chicago Cubs, who have won six straight. The Tigers lost 5-2 on Wednesday, and manager
Ron Gardenhire had to depart to the clubhouse early due to heat exhaustion. He
is expected to be back in the Tigers dugout on Thursday.
“It’s frustrating to be right there, to be so close,” catcher James McCann told MLB.com. “But at the end of the day, that’s not reflected in your win-loss
column. It’s either a win or a loss. We came up short two games in a row.”
The Tigers have lost 13 of their last 15 games, but they do have a hot hitter in Nicholas Castellanos, who has hit safely in 10 of the last 11 games.
Castellanos smacked a solo homer and walked twice on Wednesday.
Texas’ Shin-Soo Choo has been swinging an even hotter bat. Choo has reached base in 44 consecutive games after getting two hits, including a
homer
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turnaround after losing at home in extra innings to Houston 5-4 in that
game.
Freddy Peralta is making it difficult for the Milwaukee Brewers to remove him from the rotation. Maybe they won’t.
Peralta pitched one-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, Jesus Aguilar hit one of Milwaukee’s three homers and the Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1
on Tuesday night.
Peralta (3-0) allowed a leadoff double in the third to Adalberto Mondesi and also a walk in the second. The 22-year-old rookie was perfect otherwise,
striking out 10 in his fourth major league start.
”He was wonderful,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. ”The big thing to me, again, was just how he pounded the strike zone. That’s the common theme to
me, is that if he’s not issuing free passes, he’s going to be tough. He did that
tonight, just all over the strike zone.”
Aguilar, Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun homered off starter Jakob Junis (5-9), who has lost six straight.
Mondesi, called up June 17, hit his first homer this season with two outs in the eighth off Dan Jennings. Jacob Barnes got two outs in the ninth and Josh
Hader retired one batter for his seventh save.
Peralta has not allowed a run in 13 innings, giving up three hits in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on June 19 when
starter Zach Davies went on the disabled list.
”That hasn’t been a conversation,” Counsell said when asked about the rotation. ”He’s pitching well. If you keep pitching like that, it’s going to
lead to more starts, for sure.”
Peralta was called up in May and allowed one hit in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut, striking out 13 in a 7-3 win over Colorado. He gave up four runs
in four innings without a decision in his second start, and then was sent
down.
After three starts on the road, Peralta was pitching for the first time at Miller Park.
”I was waiting for this day to pitch in the Brewers stadium,” Peralta said. ”A lot of fans were waiting for this day, too. I’m really happy for this. I did
the best job I could and it was awesome for me.”
Junis
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runs, seven hits and three walks in five innings.
”I’m giving up a lot of runs on home runs,” said Junis, who has allowed three or more homers five times this season. ”If I keep it in the yard, I’d have a lot
better chance of keeping some runs off the board. But, just a couple pitches
that I’m leaving over the plate are getting handled.”
Yelich staked the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the first with his 11th home run, sending a 3-0 pitch over the wall in left after a one-out double by Braun.
Aguilar made it 3-0 with his team-leading 17th homer, a two-out solo shot to
center in the third.
The Brewers extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth when Eric Thames singled and Braun followed with his ninth home run and first since June 8.
Kansas City threatened in the second when Mondesi opened with a double to right. Junis bunted, but Aguilar charged from first, made a barehanded pickup
and got Mondesi at third.
The Royals fell to 4-19 in the month of June, scoring just 48 runs in that span. They have scored one run or less in 18 games this season.
”We’re all frustrated,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never been a part of a month like this. An offensive
drought like we’ve had all month long is pretty puzzling. There’s no answer for
it I’ve never been through anything like this.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: CF Lorenzo Cain was placed on the 10-day DL (left groin strain) and OF Keon Broxton was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs. … LHP Boone Logan
was released. … 3B Travis Shaw, who left Sunday’s game against St. Louis in the
middle of his first at-bat, was not in the lineup and is day-to-day.
UP NEXT
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (3-7, 5.18) starts the series finale Wednesday at Miller Park. After beginning the season 1-6 with a 6.88 ERA, he is 2-1 with a
2.87 ERA in his last six starts.
Brewers: LHP Brent Suter (8-4, 4.15) is 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA over his last seven starts. After no quality starts in his first 14, Suter has pitched seven
innings in each of his last two, allowing one and two runs, respectively.
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