Freeman and Helman get big-league 1sts on back-to-back pitches for Rangers against A’s

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Cody Freeman and Michael Helman had big-league firsts on consecutive pitches for the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Freeman lined a tiebreaking RBI double into the right-center gap for his first big league hit in the fifth inning for the Rangers against the Athletics. On the very next pitch from rookie left-hander Jacob Lopez, leadoff hitter Helman’s first career homer was a three-run shot – also his first RBIs – for a 5-1 lead.

Those back-to-back firsts came about the same time the Rangers announced that they had come to terms with California high school shortstop Gavin Fien, their first-round pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft eight nights earlier.

They also came in the same game that third baseman Josh Jung homered in his first at-bat after his return to the major leagues. Jung, the first-round pick by Texas in 2019, was struggling when he was sent back to Triple-A Round Rock on July 2. He went deep leading off the third inning Monday night, then walked ahead of Freeman’s double in the fifth.

Freeman, a fourth-round pick by the Rangers in 2019, made his MLB debut as a pinch-runner Friday night, when he scored first on Corey Seager’s two-run double in the eighth inning of a 2-0 win over Detroit.

After going 0 for 3 in his first big league start Sunday night, when he played third base and his first two at-bats were against American League All-Star starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, Freeman was batting ninth as the designated hitter. His first big league hit and RBI came off A’s rookie left-hander Jacob Lopez.

Helman made his big league debut in nine games for Minnesota last season, going 3 for 10 at the plate, but is with his third organization this year. He went to St. Louis in spring training, was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh on May 14, and five days later got claimed by the Rangers.

Texas recalled Helman from Triple-A Round Rock earlier Monday for his second stint with the team. he was 0 for 6 in five games from June 26 to July 16. He added another RBI with a sacrifice bunt in the seventh inning.