Brandon

Nimmo

Nimmo has spent much of his career as a leadoff man, so this is just his third five-RBI game and the first in which he didn’t drive himself in. He doubled in one in the first, singled in one in the third, singled in two in the fifth and singled in one in the sixth tonight. The Rangers were up 8-1 at that point and held on to with 8-5 after the A’s scored in each of the final three innings.

Nimmo’s home run was his 14th of the season. He hit a two-run shot off Chad Patrick in the eighth inning. Nimmo had mostly struggled in August with a .232 average, three home runs and 10 RBI in 25 games this month entering play Saturday. He’s hitting .262 with a .750 OPS and 51 RBI in his first season with the Rangers.

Nimmo drew the Rangers closer by taking Cade Povich deep in the third inning but the Orioles pulled away in the middle innings. While the homer was his only hit on the day, it continues a strong start to August for the veteran outfielder. He’s hitting .414 (12-for-29) this month.

Nimmo’s homer off Carson Seymour didn’t even rate as a hard-hit ball, leaving his bat at 94.0 mph, but it got over the wall down the left field line. It was his 12th of the year. He’s up to .329/.397/.543 in 19 games since the break.

Nimmo’s homer came off southpaw Stephen Okert, who had limited lefties to a .169 average and one homer in 97 plate appearances this season. Nimmo is hitting .310/.385/.500 with two homers and two steals in 16 games during the second half.

The two-run homer off Noah Schultz in the first came on just a 62.5-mph swing and was hit 351 feet. Statcast says it was the third lowest bat speed to produce a homer this year, exceeding only a pair of 61.8-mph homers from Jacob Young and Jesus Rodriguez. The 4-for-4 game follows one of Nimmo’s worst nights of the year in Monday’s loss; he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in that one. He’s back up to .268/.336/.433 for the season.

Nimmo’s head seemed to be elsewhere tonight, as he nearly threw the second out of the eighth inning into the stands thinking it was the end of the inning. He usually starts against lefties, but maybe the Rangers will give him Tuesday off against Noah Schultz.

Nimmo’s RBI triple — his fourth three-bagger of the season — would give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. The Astros were able to come back and actually take a 5-4 lead before Texas tied the game in the ninth on a Kyle Higashioka homer, and Nimmo cemented the win with the walk-off off Josh Hader. He’s now driven in 34 runs in his first season with the Rangers, and he’s slashing a respectable .263/.331/.425 to end the first half. You can do a lot worse.

Nimmo returns to right field and is hitting cleanup following a four-game absence after suffering a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder last weekend. The 33-year-old corner outfielder somehow managed to avoid a trip to the injured list and only wound up missing a couple games. He’s hitting .262/.333/.420 with eight homers, 29 RBI and three steals in 354 plate appearances in his Rangers debut this season.

It’s the fourth straight game that Nimmo has missed with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. The Rangers remain hopeful that he’ll be able to avoid a stint on the injured list, but if this extends into the weekend, their hand may end up being forced. Ezequiel Duran will once again start in his place in right field and will bat third for the Tigers against left-hander Framber Valdez on Thursday evening in Arlington.