The Rangers finally snapped the skid with a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks on the road, and the timing of the break couldn’t have felt better. Josh Jung was back in the starting lineup, Nathan Eovaldi was back on the mound, and for one night at least, the roster had a little more of the shape the Rangers have been missing.
It wasn’t a clean night from start to finish, though. Joc Pederson exited after being hit in the wrist by a pitch, and Nicky Lopez left with a hamstring issue.
The Pederson injury is the one worth watching most closely, even though x-rays showed no fracture. Lopez’s departure also had ripple effects, since his presence in the lineup pushed Ezequiel Duran into center field and kept Evan Carter on the bench despite Arizona starting a right-hander.
That decision says plenty about where the offense has been lately: if Lopez is the preferred bat, the bar is not exactly sky-high.
The game turned in the fifth inning, when the Rangers erupted for all six of their runs and sent 10 hitters to the plate. Wyatt Langford got it rolling with a homer, and the inning kept building from there with singles, a double, a hit by pitch, and even an eye-catching Lopez sacrifice bunt in the middle of the chaos. Jung chipped in with a run and an RBI in the frame and finished 2 for 4, a welcome sight after the time he’s missed.
That was the kind of night the Rangers needed from him. A productive Jung changes the look of this lineup in a real way.
On the mound, Kumar Rocker gave the Rangers four solid innings before things got a little tense in the fifth. After Texas had already opened up a 6-1 lead, he walked the first two batters of the inning, and Skip Schumaker went to Robert Garcia with lefties coming up.
Garcia handled the job cleanly, retiring all three hitters he faced and leaving the runners where they were. That cleared the path for Eovaldi to return and work a clean inning in his first appearance back.
Eovaldi allowed a run in his first inning but got through 2.2 innings overall, and Jacob Latz finished it off by recording the final four outs. Normally, a closer wouldn’t be asked to get four outs in a game with a four-run cushion, but the state of the bullpen made that feel like a reasonable ask.
The pitch data backed up the arms on both sides. Rocker’s sinker reached 96.5 mph and averaged 94.4, while his fastball topped out at 97.3 and averaged 95.1.
Garcia’s fastball got to 95.5. Eovaldi maxed out at 95.9 with his fastball, and Latz hit 98.1.
There were plenty of hard-hit balls too. Corey Seager had a 108.4 mph double.
Elias Diaz delivered a 106.0 mph single and a 100.2 mph single. Duran’s single came off the bat at 105.5 mph.
Langford’s homer was clocked at 105.5 mph, and his double came in at 102.7 mph. Carter had a 104.4 mph single, Jung had singles at 102.6 and 102.3 mph, and Brandon Nimmo added a 100.1 mph double.
The Rangers now head into Sunday, the final game of their penultimate road series, with a win already in hand. Another one would go a long way.
In Other News...
Rangers Get Key Reinforcements As A New Injury Concern Emerges
Carlos Correa is moving closer to a return, with a minor league rehab assignment expected to begin this week as he works back from ankle surgery. Houston is even weighing a lineup tweak that could put Correa at second base, a spot he has never played in the majors, as part of an effort to get the most out of a crowded group that also includes Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve.
For the Rangers, the bigger immediate note is on the health front, where Nathan Eovaldi and Josh Jung were both activated from the injured list, giving Texas a needed boost as it continues to sort through its roster. Around the division, the Athletics are dealing with their own concern after Gage Jump was slowed by a left shoulder impingement, another reminder that the injury shuffle in the AL West is far from settling down. [Read more 🡒]
Robert Garcia Is Suddenly Giving The Rangers Bullpen Real Hope
Robert Garcias return has quietly given the Rangers bullpen a needed lift at a time when every healthy arm matters. After missing four months with left shoulder inflammation, the reliever came back and helped close out a 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks with a scoreless inning, then followed it up by continuing to look like the same pitcher the staff hoped to get back.
In three appearances since being activated, Garcia has yet to allow a hit, a run or a walk, which is exactly the kind of immediate stability Texas was hoping for after his long layoff. The manager has already pointed to both Garcias work on the mound and the medical staffs role in getting him back, and the real question now is how quickly the Rangers can turn that encouraging start into a dependable late-inning option. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Need Wyatt Langford To Be More Than A Brief Spark
Wyatt Langfords season has already been shaped by stops and starts, and the Rangers have felt every bit of it. The third-year outfielder missed nearly two months because of a forearm injury and a hamstring strain, then returned to give Texas a much-needed lift with a strong run in June and July before the production cooled off in August and September.
For a club still chasing the AL West title, the appeal is obvious: when Langford is right, the lineup looks deeper and more dangerous. Skip Schumaker has been encouraged by the recent hits and home runs, but the bigger question for Texas is whether this is the start of a longer stretch of impact or just another brief spark in a season that has not yet settled into any rhythm. [Read more 🡒]