It was a pitchers’ duel at Oracle Park on Monday night, as Rangers ace Kyle Gibson and Giants lefty Alex Wood both pitched quality starts in the Interleague showdown.

Gibson went six innings, allowing just one run on four hits in Texas’ 3-1 loss, while Wood had an almost identical stat line of seven innings and one run on four hits. Gibson had six strikeouts and Wood notched seven.

Gibson also stranded two runners in scoring position after the Giants threatened with a double and a walk in the sixth inning.

“I thought he probably wasn't the sharpest he's been, but I thought once he kind of got settled in he pitched really well,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said of Gibson. “He got us through six innings with only one run and gave us the chance to win a game. He got out of that last inning with a little bit of traffic out there [in the sixth].”

Gibson has proven himself to be the best pitcher on the staff, bringing down his ERA to 2.28 after the start. His lone run surrendered was on a Brandon Belt home run in the bottom of the fourth.

Woodward said that while Gibson didn’t have his best stuff tonight, he was still able to get through the game effectively. Gibson agreed, saying that it’s normal to not pitch your best every start.

“I think there were a lot of areas where it could have been better,” Gibson said. “Maybe I pitched behind them in the count as much as I have all year. And then I just randomly lost feel a little bit. I've said it before, there's gonna be quite a few starts where you’re not going to have your best stuff and you’ve got to find a way to get through five, six, seven innings and give the team a chance to win. Every time I take the mound that’s what I'm trying to do.”

Woodward described Wood before the game as a “funky” pitcher with a quick delivery, which got the Rangers hitters off balance in the loss. Gibson said Wood’s fastball and slider look almost identical coming to the plate before the slide breaks and his changeup is elite.

“When you can X corners inside and outside to righties and lefties, and your ball moves so late, it doesn't even really matter how much it moves,” Gibson said of Wood. “You know, you can get through a lineup pretty easily. His stuff was just on, you know. It looked really good and was giving our hitters fits on that."

The Rangers also had two uncharacteristic defensive errors from Charlie Culberson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Woodward said it was just “one of those nights” and that wouldn’t shake their confidence.

Texas’ normally reliable bullpen gave up two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. John King, who entered the game with a 1.56 ERA, issued a two-out walk to Austin Slater and allowed the Giants to jump on top with a pair of singles. King gave up two runs, but only one was earned because of Culberson's throwing error.

“[With King], it was just a two-out walk,” Woodward said. “Obviously something that we've addressed and prided ourselves on is not walking guys for that reason. Just a poorly executed cutter at the end there. I'm sure [King would] probably say he wants that one back, because if he executes that pitch, he gets him to groundout or jams him or something.”