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Texas Rangers starter Cody Bradford throws to the San Francisco Giants line up in the top sixth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Wed Aug 4, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

In an early afternoon matchup, the San Francisco Giants (48-67) lost a tough one Wednesday to the Texas Rangers (57-58) in game three of their series in a shutout. Two lefties took the mound, the Giants Carson Whisenhunt and the Rangers Cody Bradford.

Whisenhunt was looking for a quality start. Whisenhunt pitched 8.1 allowed five hits and four runs. Bradford 4.1 pitched 4.1 innings of shutout ball allowing five hits.

Through two innings the game remained scoreless. It all changed in the third inning when the Rangers were able to score three runs taking a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning.

San Francisco was again trailing early digging a pretty deep hole. The Rangers would add one more run, a solo home run off the bat of Brandon Nimmo for a 5-0 advantage. The hits just kept on coming for the Rangers scoring in the bottom of the eighth looking for a 6-0 shutout in the top of the ninth.

The final was indeed the shutout 6-0 and the series loss the Giants playing a real lackluster low energy game.

GAME RECAP

In the first inning both teams had a couple of runners on base but the game remained scoreless. San Francisco’s Eddys Leonard doubled in the second inning but was the only runner in the inning to get on base. Whisenhunt went three and out in a nice inning.

The third inning saw a breakthrough turnaround for the Rangers. The Giants went three and out in the inning but the Rangers turned on the heater in a huge bottom of the third. With two outs Texas went to work taking Whisenhunt apart.

The Rangers had four straight two out hits. After Wyatt Langford doubled, Brandon Nimmo singled followed by a Jake Burger single. The Nimmo single brought Langford home for a 1-0 lead. A Justin Foscue triple drove in Nimmo and Burger extending their lead to 3-0.

Texas would tack on one moe run to end the inning leading 4-0. The hits just kept on coming for Texas as Elias Diaz doubled Foscue home for the final run of the inning. The Giants were looking at a pretty significant deficit.

It was another frustrating at bat for the Giants in the fourth inning leaving two runners stranded. Whisenhunt remained in the game for the bottom of the fourth after the shaky third inning. He got the first at bat out but walked Evan Carter precipitating a change on the mound for San Francisco.

Seymour would relieve Whisenhunt after 4 1/3 innings. He has a 5-2 win/loss record and a 3.79 ERA. He got the Giants out of the inning when Ezequiel Duran hit into a double play.

San Francisco got something going in the top of the fifth innings hitting two singles, the first off the bat of Drew Cavanaugh and the second off Jung Hoo Lee. With two runners on base and only one out, there was a change on the mound for the Rangers.

Tyler Alexander would relieve Cody Bradford after a pretty decent outing for Bradford. Alexander would face Willy Adames striking him out for the second out. Rafael Devers grounded out and mid-way through the game San Francisco badly needed to get some runs up on the board.The Rangers created an even wide gap in the bottom of the fifth. Brandon Nimmo hit a solo home run giving Texas a 5-0 lead.

There was nothing going on for the Giants in the top of the sixth or seventh innings. They had two runners on base in the eighth but left them stranded. They had been able to keep the Rangers from doing any more damage but despite seven hits in the game San Francisco had been unable to score any runs. They were three outs away from losing the game and the series.

Drew Cavanaugh did double in the ninth inning but with two outs Texas relief pitcher Cole Winn closed out the game. San Francisco had won the first game of this series but ended up losing the series dropping games two and three.

GAME NOTES

San Francisco had seven hits in the game the Rangers with nine yet a lopsided 8-0 final score pointing to timely hits by Texas and there were also five walks in the game which did not help. The four run third inning was the culprit that turned this game in favor of the Rangers.

The San Francisco offense did have those seven hits but could not string hits together leaving runners stranded throughout the game. The Giants also had some errors that led to two unearned runs. This was just a difficult game for San Francisco getting outplayed in every phase of the ball game offensively and defensively.

It was a tough outing for Whisenhunt who pitched only 3 1/3 innings not able to go deep in the game. He allowed five hits, four earned runs, three walks with four strikeouts setting the stage for the Rangers shut-out.

The Rangers starter Cody Bradford pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing five hits, no runs, two walks with five strikeouts. The Texas bullpen finished off San Francisco pretty easily.

The Giants will now head home for a series with the Detroit Tigers over the weekend. Keider Montero will take the mound for the Tigers with a 8-6 win/loss record and a 3.17 ERA. Right now the Giants are undecided as to who will pitch Friday night. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 7:15 PM.

Texas Rangers Alejandro Osuna (left) and Ezekial Duran (second from left) and the rest of the Rangers celebrate Duran’s run scoring walk off double in the last of the ninth innning to defeat the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Tue Aug 4, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

It was the Texas Rangers (56-58) who jumped up on the scoreboard early in game Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington taking a 2-0 run lead in the first inning. While San Francisco (48-66) had some opportunities their offense was sluggish through the next four innings.

The Giants starting pitcher Blade Tidwell turned his nervous start around after the opening inning taking control and pitching nicely. The Giants kept the Rangers off the scoreboard for the next four innings but needed some production at the plate.

San Francisco was able to tie up the game in the seventh inning. The Rangers took back the lead in the eighth inning 4-2. San Francisco was not finished again tying up the game in the top of the ninth inning 4-4.

The Giants were three outs away from extra innings. The Rangers Ezequiel Duran hit a deep ball into the outfield that Jung Hoo Lee was unable to track and Jake Burger scored for the Texas walk-off 5-4.

GAME RECAP

Ranger’s pitcher MacKenzie Gore got a nice start for the team giving up a Willy Adames single but not much else. It was a busy bottom of the first for the Rangers scoring two runs.

Starting pitcher for San Francisco Blade Tidwell had a bit of a bumpy start giving up two runs giving the Rangers the first lead of the game. Tidwell gave up a walk, a couple of single and a double.

With two runners on base Brandon Nimmo doubled lead-off batter Joc Peterson home for the first run followed by Ezequiel Duran who singled Seager home for the 2-0 lead.

San Francisco had a opportunity in the top of the second. Daniel Susac doubled followed by a Buddy Kennedy walk and the Giants had two riunners on base with no outs. Gore got the next two strikeouts and Christian Koss grounded out to end the inning. Tidwell had a three and out in the bottom of the inning.

The Giants again got a couple of runners on base in the top of the third. Jung Hoo Lee who has been playing really well hit a double and Rafael Devers walked but they had two outs. Susac grounded out to end the inning for San Francisco. Tidwell had another terrific inning only giving up a single and this game was really moving along going into the fourth inning.

With the exception of the first inning, Tidwell had really reigned it in and had relaxed and settled in nicely. He had some opening trouble locating his pitches resulting in the two early Ranger runs but had turned things around. He gave up a single in the bottom of the fourth but easily got out of the inning and it was on to the fifth inning.

Going into the fifth inning San Francisco needed to make some offensive noise. It didn’t happen in the fifth with Gore closing out the top of the inning with only eight pitches going three and out.

The Rangers had a single in the bottojm of the fifth but Tidwell closed out the inning. It was getting later in the game but San Francisco still had plenty of time to make up the 2-run deficit.

The sixth inning was a three and out for Gore and Jason Foley who had relieved starting pitcher Tidwell. The Giants badly needed to make a move with only three innings left in the game.

The Giants made their move in the top of the seventh inning with a two-run home run off the bat of Osleivis Basabe who has been crushing the ball this past week. Drew Gilbert had walked earlier in the inning and just like that we had a new ball game 2-2. JT Brubaker relieved Foley in the bottom of the seventh inning going three and out.

The Giants Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, and Daniel Susac all struck out in the top of the eighth inning. The Rangers were looking to make a move in the bottom of the eighth. With Wyatt Langford on first and no outs Corey Seager singled. Brandon Nimmo came to the plate hitting another single and the Rangers had the bases loaded.

Ezequiel Duran answered with a double driving in Langford and Seager taking back the lead 4-2. The Giants intentionally walked Elias Diaz and again Texas had the bases loaded with two outs. Adrian Houser relieved Reiver Sanmartin who pitched 2/3 of the inning allowing the two runs. Houser got out of the inning that had proven to be disastrous.

It all came down to the top of the ninth inning, The Giants were down to their last three outs and were facing an excellent closer Jacob Latz who is known to be very stingy when it comes to the long ball.

Drew Gilbert singled followed by a Grant McCray walk and the Giants had a couple of runners on base with only one out. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. It would be up to Brent Eldridge and he got the job done hitting a single that drove both Gilbert and McCray home and this game was again tied 4-4.

Now the Giants would have fight their way to extra innings. Dylan Smith would take the mound facing the top of the Rangers lineup. Jake Burger doubled, Wyatt Langford flied out and Corey Seager was intentionally walked.

Brandon Nimmo struck out and San Francisco had a huge second out. Ezequiel Duran was the last hope for the Rangers. He hit a deep ball into the outfield that Lee was unable to track and that was the ball game, The Rangers had the walk-off winning game two 5-4 tying up the series.

GAME NOTES

The Giants got an ideal start Monday taking the lead early beating the Rangers 5-1. They would be looking to replicate the early lead and the timely hits that they had in Monday’s game but for Tuesday falling one run short in the second game of the three game series.

This was an unfortunate loss for the San Francisco Giants unable to protect the late tie. Texas came up with the bigger hits in the final two innings. Again the Giants fell behind early and the offense was quiet for the first six innings of the game.

The San Francisco bullpen just couldn’t hold the tie. The Giants had a couple of great rallies but Texas pushed across the winning run in bottom of the ninth for the walk-off. The Giants did lose the game but showed a lot of fight coming back from the 2-0 deficit and tying up this game twice. The problem was that they didn’t get enough offense until late in the game and their bullpen couldn’t shut the door when the game was tied.

It was an impressive outing for Tidwell once he got through the first inning. It appeared that his nerves got the best of him but he turned it all around in the next four innings. He really calmed down and pitched really well. He finished five innings allowing six hits, two earned runs, one walk with three strikeouts.

The Rangers Mackenzie Gore had a great outing going six innings. He allowed only three hits, no runs, three walks and four strikeouts.

Wednesday the Giants will be looking to take the series in game three. Carson Whisenhunt will take the mound for San Francisco. He has a 2-2 win/loss record and a 6.63 ERA. Right now the Rangers are undecided as to who will pitch tomorrow. First pitch for game three is scheduled for 11:35 AM\.