'Ice in his veins': Garcia's 4-RBI night propels Royals to series win

ARLINGTON -- As the Royals’ offense works to get out of its funk, there’s been a lot of talk about needing a big hit in a big inning. The lineup can do all it can to get on base, move runners, keep the line moving, but at some point, someone needs to bring everyone in to score.

A big swing can relieve a lot of pressure for an offense finding its footing.

It can also flip the score around.

Maikel Garcia’s three-run home run did just that Wednesday night, turning a deficit into a lead and propelling the Royals to a 6-3 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field, giving Kansas City its first series win since two weeks ago in St. Louis.

Paired with Tuesday’s big offensive night, the Royals have won back-to-back games for the first time since May 18-19 in St. Louis and San Francisco -- and it’s the first time they’ve won consecutive games against the same team since May 5-8, when they swept a four-game set against the White Sox.

Texas jumped out to an early two-run lead off Royals starter Kris Bubic, who ended up allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings while throwing a season-high 101 pitches. But the Royals put together a four-run third inning to mark the first time all season that Rangers starter Patrick Corbin had allowed more than three runs in a start.

After Jonathan India put the Royals on the board with an RBI single, Garcia came to the plate with runners on second and third and one out.

A Statcast-projected 407-foot blast out to the visitors’ bullpen -- nearly caught by Royals bullpen catcher/strategist Allan De San Miguel -- flipped a one-run deficit into a two-run lead.

“He’s kind of got ice in his veins,” Bubic said of Garcia. “He’s kind of built for those moments, and nothing ever gets too big for him. … For them to pick me up like that, I wanted to try to return the favor and keep the lead for us.

“Maikel and the rest of the crew -- that was huge.”

Garcia said he wasn’t trying to hit a homer. He was looking to line a ball up the middle and score India from third. But Corbin threw a two-strike sinker in the zone, and Garcia smashed it out.

The fact that García isn’t trying to hit homers -- but has now surpassed his total from last year (seven) -- speaks not only to his growth as a player in his third big league season, but also to how consistent he has stayed with his approach and all of the adjustments he made with his swing over the offseason.

It’s turned him into one of the Royals’ best hitters.

“I’m just playing the game,” Garcia said. “Playing situations in the game, put the ball in play, move the runner and good things happen. Last year, I [hit] two homers in three games [at the beginning of the year]. I liked it. I was just trying to hit a lot of homers. That wasn’t good. I struggled last year. But the adjustments I did in the offseason, I feel great this season.”

The third baseman is building an All-Star candidacy with how consistent he’s been this year. Garcia’s .318 average and .377 on-base percentage rank second among American League third basemen to Cleveland’s José Ramírez (.319 and .377, respectively). Garcia’s .500 slugging percentage ranks third behind Ramírez and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero.

“Maikel hasn’t slowed down,” India said. “It’s incredible what he’s doing. He’s an All-Star. He's trusting what he does, trusting in his process every day, and it’s working out. He’s locked in right now.”

Garcia didn’t slow down after his home run Wednesday, either. He ended his night 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a triple in the eighth that gave the Royals an insurance run.

He also made a crucial play in the bottom of the seventh inning to keep a run from scoring on reliever Lucas Erceg, which would have tied the game at that point. With Wyatt Langford on second base, Marcus Semien chopped a single down the third-base line, but Garcia snagged it to keep Langford at third and nearly throw Semien out at first.

That set up a double play for Erceg to get out of the jam.

“What do you say?” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Those are huge plays in the game, and they’re something we’ve become accustomed to him doing for us.”