PHOENIX - Elias Diaz kept finding the barrel while the rest of the Texas lineup finally joined him.
Diaz went 3-for-4 with an RBI single in the fifth as the Rangers scored six times in the inning and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 on Saturday night at Chase Field, according to the Associated Press and ESPN's box score. His hit plated Jake Burger and pushed Texas ahead 2-1, the first of five runs that followed Wyatt Langford's leadoff homer in the frame.
Before the explosion, Diaz had already been the quietest constant in a quiet Texas attack. He singled earlier, stayed in the middle of traffic, and then delivered again when the inning opened. Burger had singled and stolen second.
Nicky Lopez sacrificed him to third. Diaz ripped the ball through the middle. Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch.
Corey Seager reached on a contested fielder's choice that survived Arizona's challenge. Josh Jung, Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Duran kept stacking hits until the deficit for Brandon Pfaadt was five runs.
Catcher's bat in a pitcher-heavy night
Texas did not need Diaz to hit a home run. It needed someone to turn the first cracks in Arizona's fifth into a real lead, and the catcher's single did that before the bigger swings arrived. ESPN's line shows three hits and one RBI; the AP narrative puts that RBI squarely inside the six-run rally that decided the game.
On the mound, Kumar Rocker worked four innings and allowed one run with five strikeouts. Robert Garcia earned the win with a clean fifth. Nathan Eovaldi, activated from the injured list, threw 2 2/3 innings of one-run relief in his first relief outing since 2019. Jacob Latz finished the ninth.
Pfaadt (7-3) lasted 6 2/3 innings, surrendering 10 hits and six runs with seven strikeouts. Arizona's Gabriel Moreno had two hits and scored on Corbin Carroll's sacrifice fly in the sixth. Tim Tawa's triple and Pavin Smith's RBI single had given the Diamondbacks their first run in the third.
