Merrill Kelly allowed just three hits in 7 2/3 innings, and David Peralta and Stephen Vogt had RBI hits as the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the struggling Texas Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday in the first of a two-game, interleague series in Arlington, Texas.
Kelly controlled the Rangers into the seventh inning before surrendering a one-out solo home run to Rougned Odor that ended his no-hit and shutout bid.
Kelly (1-0) struck out seven and walked one. He left with two outs in the eighth after giving up singles to the Rangers' Elvis Andrus and Robinson Chirinos, with Andrew Chafin getting the final out of the inning. Archie Bradley struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.
The Diamondbacks used a two-out throwing error by Texas third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning. After Starling Marte and Eduardo Escobar scored on Kiner-Falefa's error on a grounder by Christian Walker, Peralta ripped a single for the third run of the frame to plate Walker.
Arizona added to its lead in the sixth on Vogt's double that drove home Walker. Seven different players had hits for the Diamondbacks in the win, with Ketel Marte the only Arizona player with two.
Kyle Gibson (0-1) was the hard-luck loser for Texas, allowing five hits and three runs, none earned, in five innings during his first appearance for the Rangers. Gibson struck out four and walked three.
Texas, which lost two of three games against Colorado in its first series of the season, has scored just six total runs in its first four outings, tying a team record for futility in that span to open any campaign. This is the first time in club history that the Rangers have scored two runs or fewer in the each of the first four games of the season.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Texas | |
Merrill Kelly | Player | Kyle Gibson |
Win | W/L | Loss |
7.2 | IP | 5.0 |
7 | Strikeouts | 4 |
3 | Hits | 5 |
1.17 | ERA | 0.00 |
Arizona | Texas | |
Ketel Marte | Player | Elvis Andrus |
2 | Hits | 1 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 1 |
.400 | Avg | .333 |