Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals

What’s better than one Jacob? A Jacob and a Jakob, who pitched three of the most important innings in the Rangers’ 6-4 extra-inning victory over the Royals on Wednesday night. It was a back-and-forth affair at Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals took a 1-0 lead in the second, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the fourth and the two clubs were tied three times afterward. The newest Ranger, Elias Díaz, dealt the go-ahead knock with a full-count double in the 10th inning. But it was the pitching performances from Jakob Junis and Jacob Latz that put the Rangers in position to win. “Juno was down the last couple days, he needed a little break, so he was off for five or six games,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “He was feeling really fresh. The fact that he gave us two scoreless innings against a really tough part of the lineup was gigantic, because I didn't know how long this game was going to go. We didn't have too many guys available after Latz, so if they ended up tying it up, it was going to be interesting to see what happened. Luckily, we got a big win.”