ARLINGTON (AP) — Troy Johnston and Connor Norby hit back-to-back solo home runs with two outs in the sixth inning, helping the Miami Marlins beat the slumping Texas Rangers 4–3 on Saturday night.
Johnston also had an RBI single for the Marlins (75–80), who have won five straight and 10 of their last 13 games.
Rookie Cade Gibson (4–5) pitched two innings to earn the win. Calvin Faucher recorded his 15th save, despite allowing a leadoff homer to Kyle Higashioka in the ninth and leaving runners stranded on second and third.
The Rangers (79–76) have lost six in a row, matching their longest losing streak of the season. They were eliminated from the AL West race and trail by five games in the wild-card standings.
Johnston pulled a first-pitch curveball from rookie Jack Leiter (9–10) just over the right-field fence to break a 2–2 tie. Norby followed by pulling a 1–0 slider over the left-field wall.
Marlins rookie starter Adam Mazur allowed two runs over four innings in his sixth attempt to earn his first major league win.
Eric Wagman hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score Norby. Three of Texas’ eight hits came in the third, including consecutive RBI singles by Alejandro Osuna and Rowdy Tellez.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in the eighth inning after arguing with plate umpire Cody Freeman.
The Marlins are 39–38 on the road (36–42 at home) and are aiming to finish with a winning road record for just the third time in franchise history.
Sunday’s series finale will feature Marlins RHP Eury Pérez (7–5, 4.40 ERA) against Rangers RHP Merrill Kelly (12–8, 3.46).
