Left-hander Taylor Hearn showed no effects whatsoever of an 11-day layoff, throwing five shutout innings for the Texas Rangers in their 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals in Arlington, Texas.
Hearn (2-2) last pitched on May 1, beating the Atlanta Braves, then was briefly moved into the bullpen but didn’t see any action. He limited the Royals to one hit, a single by Michael A. Taylor with two outs in the second inning. Hearn walked three and struck out five.
Joe Barlow stranded two runners in the ninth inning for his sixth save in as many chances.
Brad Miller went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and two runs for the Rangers, who took two of three in the series.
The Royals had just the one hit until Whit Merrifield’s infield single with one out in the eighth off John King.
Royals right-hander Jonathan Heasley (0-1), called up from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday, made his first big league start of the season. Ranked by MLB Pipeline as Kansas City’s No. 9 prospect, Heasley yielded one run on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one.
Miller opened the first inning with an infield single, and he scored on Kole Calhoun’s RBI single to left with two outs.
Texas added on in the seventh inning on Miller’s home run down the right field line off Taylor Clarke. Miller’s fifth homer of the season was confirmed on video review.
In the eighth inning against King, the Royals cut into the deficit. Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi singled with one out to put runners on the corners, and Salvador Perez followed with an RBI single to right. Perez then left for pinch runner Kyle Isbel.
With runners on first and second, King struck out Hunter Dozier. The Royals’ threat was thwarted when Matt Bush came on and struck out Bobby Witt Jr.
Texas got the run back in the bottom of the eighth. Adolis Garcia tripled to lead off the inning and scored on Josh Staumont’s wild pitch.
Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien, who is mired in an 0-for-17 slump, was given the night off.
–Field Level Media
