Texas Rangers sign former 2-time All-Star pitcher

The Texas Rangers are taking a flyer on a former 2-time All-Star pitcher.

The Rangers on Tuesday signed Johnny Cueto to a minor-league contract.

Cueto was apparently drawn to the Rangers because he views the defending World Series champions as a contender, and because of his relationship with the team’s manager, Bruce Bochy.

Cueto spent 2016-2021 with the Giants. Bochy managed San Francisco for the first four of those seasons.

Cueto won 19 games in 2012, 20 games in 2014 and 18 in 2016. His most recent productive season came with the White Sox in 2022 when he went 8-10 with a 3.35 ERA. The 38-year-old went 1-4 with a 6.02 ERA over 13 games with the Marlins last season.

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The Rangers entered play on Tuesday 12-11, which was good enough to place them first in the AL West.

Adolis García and Evan Carter hit consecutive home runs for the first time this season for the Texas Rangers, leading them to a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.

García’s seventh home run of the season barely cleared the wall in center field in the fourth inning, with Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez almost making the catch. García initially thought Rodríguez caught it until he realized the ball had gone over the fence.

“I’ve seen Julio do that deke before where he acts like he didn’t catch it, so I didn’t know what was going on,” said Carter, who was waiting on deck.

Mariners manager Scott Servais believed Rodríguez had caught the ball.

“It’s right at him, over his head,” Servais said. “Tough to get back to the fence and make a jump. You’re kind of off balance when you get there. Heck of an effort.”

The home run ended Texas’ 25-inning scoreless streak at home after being shut out by the Mariners on Tuesday.

“You’re looking for a shot in the arm,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Man, those are two big hits.”

Carter, who was moved from third to fifth in the batting order, hit a triple in the seventh inning to bring home García. This inning was kept alive by an obstruction call against Mariners reliever Austin Voth, allowing Nathaniel Lowe to reach base.

Texas scored twice in the sixth inning after Jonah Heim singled and Mitch Haniger made a two-base error in right field.

Jonathan Hernández (1-0), in his first appearance of the season, retired four of the five batters he faced. Hernández had been sidelined with a lat strain until being activated from the 15-day injured list on Tuesday.

The Mariners left nine runners on base and struggled with runners in scoring position, going 1 for 11 in those situations.