Defense 'sets tone' early for Rangers' win

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have two former Gold Glove Award winners on the field in Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but neither was the defensive star of Friday night’s 9-4 win over the Royals at Globe Life Field.

Texas put on a defensive clinic at multiple positions, from Charlie Culberson at the hot corner to Eli White and Adolis García in the outfield, backing up starting pitcher Dane Dunning throughout his five-inning outing in the opener of a three-game set.

First baseman Nathaniel Lowe said it was a good showing of how good this team as a whole can be defensively.

Culberson was responsible for all three outs in the top of the first inning, including charging a leadoff groundout from Whit Merrifield and snagging a scorching 101.5 mph exit velocity grounder from Salvador Perez to induce a double play and end the frame.

“It's motivating,” Dunning said about the defense making plays behind him. “I mean, Charlie just leads with the first batter of the game, making that barehand grab, running in and throwing out Merrifield, who is a quick runner. I mean it set the tone right then and there, and then making an amazing double play.”

White, not to be outdone, robbed Ryan O'Hearn of a possible base hit to lead off the second inning, scaling the left-field wall to snag the ball midair.

García then robbed Perez of an extra-base hit in the fifth inning. If Perez’s line drive at 375 feet was a foot to the left, it would have been into the Rangers’ bullpen for a three-run home run. If anybody not named Adolis García is playing center field, it’s likely an RBI double, plating the two runners in scoring position.

Instead García, almost colliding with Gallo in right-center field, secured the line drive at the door of the bullpen, ending the inning and limiting the damage done by the Royals on Dunning, who gave up a run earlier in the frame.

“That honestly saved the game,” Dunning said.

“With Adolis, that play in right-center, [a hit] gets them right back into the game,” manager Chris Woodward added. “That gets them right back into the game [if they scored two]. That's a tie game right there. And that allowed our offense to have another opportunity to put some distance in the scoring column. I feel like we give a good effort every night, defensively, but tonight that set the tone.”

The Rangers’ offense had a day of its own, tagging Royals starter Mike Minor for a career-worst nine runs on 11 hits. Four Texas hitters had multi-hit games, with Nate Lowe leading the way by extending his hit streak to seven games (3-for-4, two RBIs).

Lowe got off to a hot start this season, but he lagged in the month of May, hitting .222 between May 1-22. He’s recently gotten hot again during his hit streak, raising his season average to .259, while slashing .423/.483/.654 with a 1.137 OPS during that span.

“I’m just getting back to being me, honestly,” Lowe said. “I went through a rough patch there, but that's part of growing up, part of being a Major League player and part of that is figuring out what I need to do to get better. ... I got to do a better job with my pregame prep and letting the game come to me.”

The Rangers only scored in two innings -- a four-run fourth and a five-run sixth. Woodward said that after being shut out in the first three innings, the hitters were able to adjust to Minor’s changeup and square it up at the plate.

“It is encouraging to see that [adjustment] and I feel like we've made some progress especially in the last week,” Woodward said. “We’re getting better at-bats, more quality at-bats up and down the lineup. Hopefully, some more games like this gives us a little more confidence.”