KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jonah Heim hit a tying solo home run in the ninth inning and Nathaniel Lowe had a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th, leading the Texas Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
With one out in the 10th, Corey Seager singled off James McArthur (1-1) to put runners on first and third. Lowe followed with his third RBI of the series to score Leody Tavares.
David Robertson pitched a scoreless 10th that included an intentional walk to Bobby Witt Jr. with two outs to seal the win for the Rangers with his first save of the season.
Kirby Yates (3-0) earned the win by tossing two scoreless innings of relief.
It was the third straight series win for the Rangers overall and the sixth in a row against the Royals since 2021.
“The guys fought and we had some huge hits in the end with Heim and Lowe, but you have to look at the mound,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “(Jon) Gray had seven solid innings, Yates gave us a good ninth and Robertson came and shut it down. ...
"The pitching has been pretty consistent, giving us great starts, and the bullpen is doing a nice job. That is how to take series wins.”
Heim tied it at 2 in the ninth off McArthur when his shot struck the right-field foul pole for a home run. The homer snapped a season-high four-game drought for the Rangers.
“I didn’t want to chase low, so I just tried to see something up in the zone," Heim said. “Luckily, he threw me a slider that started up and I put a good swing on it, and it stayed fair.
"There is never any panic with our offense. Everyone is out there just putting together good at-bats, taking walks, hitting balls hard and good things will happen for us.”
Gray allowed two runs and seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in seven innings in the start for the Rangers.
Texas moved to 3-3 in rubber games this season, while Kansas City dropped to 1-5.
“It was a tough loss,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. "We had a 2-0 lead going into the eighth, but a lot will be made of the last couple of innings. We did not do much in the middle innings. Credit to Gray and Yates for keeping us right where we were.”
Kansas City's Daniel Lynch tossed five innings of shutout ball in his season debut with just two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Lynch retired 10 straight after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first.
Vinnie Pasquantino gave the Royals an early 2-0 lead with a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the first and an RBI double in the third. But Kansas City went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
ROSTER MOVES
Kansas City recalled Lynch for the start and optioned RHP Colin Selby to Triple-A Omaha to make room.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers rookie OF Wyatt Langford left Saturday night with right hamstring tightness and was scheduled to have an MRI on Sunday. The team expected to know more by Monday.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Texas will head to Oakland for a four-game series. Andrew Heaney (0-4, 5.10 ERA) will start against the A's.
Royals: Kansas City will host Milwaukee for three games starting Monday night, when Cole Ragans (2-2, 3.44 ERA) will take the mound.
