Rangers inch toward playoffs by hitting it a mile

ANAHEIM -- In a hitter's meeting in New York back in August, as the Rangers struggled through one of their toughest stretches of the year, Marcus Semien told his teammates that you don¡¯t always need a three-run homer or a grand slam to win a ballgame.

But it definitely doesn¡¯t hurt to hit a lot of homers.

The Rangers beat the Angels, 5-1, on Monday night at Angel Stadium, thanks in part to back-to-back-to-back home runs from Adolis Garc¨ªa, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe in the sixth inning. Semien added one of his own to lead off the seventh as the Rangers earned their sixth straight victory.

• Games remaining (6): at LAA (2); at SEA (4)
• Standings update: The Rangers (88-68) lead the AL West by 2 1/2 games over the Astros (86-71) and four games over the Mariners (84-72).
• Tiebreakers: The Rangers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker vs. the Mariners but not the Astros. For a Wild Card spot, they would win a tiebreaker vs. the Blue Jays.
• Magic number: 4 to clinch the AL West

It was the first time Texas has hit back-to-back-to-back home runs since August 19, 2015, against Seattle, when Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli and Elvis Andrus accomplished the feat.

¡°I¡¯ve seen that a couple times,¡± manager Bruce Bochy said. ¡°But you know we were pretty quiet through the first five innings. Garc¨ªa woke us up there with his home run. They were tough on us with the left-handers, but we came alive and it¡¯s good to see the long ball.¡±

The Rangers have hit 10 home runs over their last two games, tying the franchise record for the most in any two-game span, done four times previously. They also took over the lead for home runs in the American League in 2023, with 227, which is tied for the seventh-most in club history.

The Rangers were the best offense in the AL for most of the season, but tapered off as four of their five position player All-Stars -- Garc¨ªa, Corey Seager, Jonah Heim and Josh Jung -- spent time on the injured list in July and August.

Texas¡¯ offense has surged back since getting the full lineup back healthy last homestand, when Garc¨ªa and Jung were activated on Sept. 18.

¡°Our lineup is stretched out,¡± Bochy said. ¡°We¡¯re a team that hits a lot of homers. You saw in the first half. These guys are doing a good job of getting their pitch and putting a good swing on it. It¡¯s pretty simple. It really is power throughout the lineup. There¡¯s no letup. That's the great thing about our lineup.¡±

Rangers starter Jon Gray, who tossed six innings of one-run ball, knew that if he kept the game within reach, the offense would eventually break through.

¡°It's only a matter of time before this team rattles off some runs,¡± Gray said. ¡°It¡¯s a really dangerous lineup, and they proved that tonight. It was late, but they¡¯re still capable. So it's always fun to see what they're going to do.¡±

Garver said he didn¡¯t feel like the Rangers were putting together the best at-bats early in the game against Angels starter Patrick Sandoval. Texas collected two hits, and drew five walks but failed to drive in a run in his three innings. But the left-hander departed with right oblique tightness.

¡°That kind of opened the door for us to do something,¡± Garver said. ¡°It was definitely nice for Adolis to get his home run to tie it, mine to go ahead and then Nate. It felt like there was a big relief for us.¡±

The Rangers¡¯ offense is clicking at just the right time -- the AL West title and a postseason berth are well within sight for Texas for the first time since 2016.?

Bochy emphasized that they¡¯re not thinking about that just yet, words that were echoed throughout the clubhouse, as well.?

¡°We know what we have to do here,¡± Garver said. ¡°We have to take care of business here and get up to Seattle and take care of our business there. We¡¯re just taking it one game at a time.¡±