Tauchman slam, Crawford 2 HRs as Giants beat Rangers 9-4

ARLINGTON, Texas -- — Brandon Crawford was in for a special night just by taking the field at shortstop for the San Francisco Giants. His two home runs and a big slam by Mike Tauchman just made the planned postgame champagne toast even sweeter.

Tauchman hit a go-ahead grand slam between the two homers by Crawford, who set the Giants' franchise record for most games as a shortstop in San Francisco's 9-4 win over the slumping Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

“One of the cooler accomplishments of my career,” Crawford said. “Growing up a Giants fan, and seeing so many great shortstops come through the organization, and be able to pass a Hall of Famer, it's a very cool accomplishment."

Crawford hit a three-run homer in the ninth after his tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning of his 1,326th game at shortstop, which broke a tie with Hall of Famer Travis Jackson, a shortstop in 1,325 games for the New York Giants from 1922-36.

Since his big league debut with the Giants in 2011, Crawford has been a three-time Gold Glove winner, a two-time All-Star and part of two World Series titles early in his career.

Manager Gabe Kapler said the latest milestone “is right up there with any of them, and one that I think he deserves to be proud of. And to have a night like he had tonight, both on defense and then at the plate. It just was a true performance and really enjoyable to watch for everybody in the dugout.”

Tauchman's first career slam came with two outs in the eighth inning to put the Giants in front for the third and final time. San Francisco, whose 38-22 record is the best in baseball, had loaded the bases with a hit and two walks off Joely Rodriguez (1-3).

Josh Sborz got an out before Tauchman, with only six hits and 16 strikeouts over his previous 44 at-bats in an 18-game span, pulled a 3-1 liner into the first row of seats near the right field corner.

It was the first grand slam by a Giants batter in the eighth inning or later when trailing by multiple runs since July 1980.

“(Tauchman) has really good at-bats. He swings at the appropriate pitches, he only attacks pitches that he feels like he can drive,” Kapler said. “He hasn’t been rewarded for that very often since he’s been a Giant. ... I thought he grinded and prepared for that moment, and then showed up in a big way.”

Joey Gallo homered for Texas before leaving the game in the eighth as a precaution because of right groin tightness. The Gold Glove right fielder also threw out a runner at the plate for the Rangers, who lost for the 12th time in 13 games.

Jose Alvarez (2-1), the fourth of six Giants pitchers, retired the only two batters he faced to end the seventh.

Crawford's 13th homer of the season put the Giants up 2-1 in the sixth, but the Rangers scored three times in the bottom of the inning. Adolis Garcia had an one-out RBI double that chased starter Alex Wood before Nick Solak went to a knee to pull a two-run double into left field for a 4-2 lead.

Wood benefited from four double plays in the first five innings but has gone four starts without a win since opening 5-0 through his first six games for the Giants after signing as a free agent in January.

Texas starter Jordan Lyles threw a season-high 100 pitches while allowing two runs (one earned) over six innings.

“It’s a tough loss. We’ve got a lot of young guys in the bullpen that are learning right now,” Texas manager Chris Woodward said. “They have pitched well at times. They’ve had to probably pitch in bigger roles than we would like at times. ... They’ve got to learn from it.”

RANGERS WOES

It was the second game in a row the Rangers lost while giving up seven runs over the final two innings. ... Texas is 0-9 vs. NL teams this season and has lost 13 consecutive interleague games, the longest such stretch in club history.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: Alex Dickerson, who started at DH, was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the third inning because of back tightness. Dickerson appeared to be in discomfort after swinging at strike three in his only at-bat. ... 1B Brandon Belt was reinstated from the 10-day injured list after missing 11 games with a left oblique strain. He walked and scored on an error in the second, and later added three singles.

Rangers: OF David Dahl, who has been out since May 26 because of a bruised left rib cage, has since experienced mid-upper back discomfort. General manager Chris Young said Dahl was undergoing further testing on the back issue that has impeded his recovery from the initial injury.

UP NEXT

AL ERA leader Kyle Gibson (4-0, 2.06 ERA) has allowed only 10 earned runs in his 10 starts since giving up five runs and retiring only one batter on opening day for the Rangers. RHP Zack Littell (0-0, 1.65) will make his first start of the season for San Francisco and his first in the majors since 2018.

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