Alejandro Osuna hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning as the Texas Rangers defeated the host Miami Marlins 4-3 on Monday night.
The loss snapped Miami’s eight-game home winning streak, its longest since 2009. The Marlins entered the night with the best record in the majors this month at 14-4.
Miami’s Otto Lopez went 2-for-3 to raise his MLB-leading batting average to .336. Xavier Edwards had a triple that was nearly an inside-the-park homer.
For the Rangers, Ezequiel Duran slugged a two-run homer and threw Edwards out at the plate. Brandon Nimmo also had a big game, going 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, a steal and two runs.
Rangers bulk reliever Kumar Rocker allowed two runs in five innings. Due to his slider, Rocker was mostly dominant with nine strikeouts and no walks. Robby Ahlstrom (2-0) earned the win with one scoreless inning.
Marlins reliever-turned-starter Tyler Phillips pitched well, allowing just two runs in six innings. Calvin Faucher (4-4) took the loss, allowing two runs in one frame.
Texas opened the scoring in the fourth as Nimmo singled and Duran homered with two outs on a 1-0 sinker low in the zone. The ball traveled 407 feet to center.
The Rangers nearly got more in the fourth as Osuna walked and tried to score from first on a single by Elias Diaz after a nonchalant throw in by Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee. However, second baseman Edwards made a strong relay throw home to get Osuna.
Miami got on the board in the fifth as Owen Caissie stroked a leadoff single, advanced on a groundout and then a wild pitch before scoring on Javier Sanoja’s sacrifice fly.
The Marlins tied the score 2-2 in the sixth as Lopez doubled and scored on Edwards’ opposite-field triple down the line in left.
Miami nearly took the lead on that play as the ball hit the wall in the corner and skipped away from Osuna in left. Osuna finally got the ball to the relay man Duran, who fired a perfect throw to catcher Diaz, who put the tag on Edwards in a bang-bang play.
After Osuna’s double put Texas ahead in the eighth, Diaz added a key sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.
The Marlins cut their deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth as lefty-swinging Kyle Stowers hit a two-out RBI double off lefty reliever Jacob Latz. However, with a 3-2 count and the bases loaded, Latz got Marsee on a groundout to end the threat.
Latz then pitched a scoreless ninth, earning his 14th save of the year.
