The Texas Rangers had one of those nights that tells you everything you need to know about where this season is headed.
They scored three runs. The Athletics scored eight.
Texas opened the game with a chance to strike first, loading the bases with two outs in the top of the first and coming away empty. Then Oakland answered in the bottom half by loading the bases with two outs of its own and ripping a bases-clearing double. That swing set the tone fast.
The Rangers didn’t record a hit until the top of the fifth, but they still clawed their way back enough to tie the game in the sixth. Jake Burger’s three-run home run briefly gave Texas life, and for a moment it looked like the offense might turn one swing into something more.
It didn’t.
Even against an Athletics team that entered the night with the worst record in baseball, the Rangers couldn’t capitalize when the game was there to be won. The bases-loaded miss in the first loomed large all night, and Texas never really found a way to make up for it. The A’s added a pair of solo home runs, then blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth, when the first five batters reached and the Rangers finally ran out of rope.
Texas finished with just four hits.
Elsewhere, the Angels lost at the Big A to the 49-73 KC Royals, which pushed them back into the worst record in baseball after Oakland moved ahead of them by beating the Rangers.
Up next, the Rangers and Athletics are set for another late-night matchup, with LHP MacKenzie Gore expected to start for Texas against RHP J.T. Ginn for the formerly-Oaklands.
In Other News...
Rangers Fans Finally Get An Easier Way To Watch Local Games
Rangers fans got another option for following the club at home as the team broadened its Rangers Sports Network reach to the BZZR app on Roku devices, with the first game on the platform marking the latest step in the move to make local broadcasts easier to access. The Rangers shifted their direct-to-consumer streaming from Victory+ to BZZR at the All-Star break, while still keeping games on traditional RSN outlets with the same broadcast crew.
For viewers, the practical part matters most: the transition has been built so fans who already subscribed through Victory+ are being moved into BZZR accounts without having to pay again for 2026. It is the kind of behind-the-scenes change that does not alter what happens on the field, but it can make a real difference for anyone who has spent the season trying to figure out where to find the next Rangers game. [Read more 🡒]
Three Rangers Just Became The Center Of A Tough Offseason Debate
The Rangers deadline moves were modest, but they still hinted at how this front office is trying to patch together the roster for the stretch run and beyond. Texas added relievers Chase Silseth and Adam Macko, plus catcher Logan OHoppe, while sending utility man Josh Smith to Toronto, a set of transactions that did little to quiet the bigger question hanging over the club: which parts of the current roster still fit going forward?
That question now circles back to three veterans who have not delivered enough to feel safe. Jake Burger has driven in runs, but the strikeouts keep piling up. Evan Carter has battled through a rough season at the plate and has had trouble against left-handed pitching. Danny Jansen, brought in on a two-year contract, has struggled both offensively and defensively, and that combination makes his place on the roster one of the more uncomfortable offseason topics the Rangers have to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Face A Jacob deGrom Problem They Can't Afford
Jacob deGroms latest outing ended after only two innings, a jolt the Rangers did not need at a time when the rotation has already been stretched thin by injuries to key pieces like Nathan Eovaldi and Josh Jung. Texas has spent much of the season trying to patch things together, and while several pitchers are working their way back from rehab, the club has not had many opportunities to feel settled on the mound.
Now the focus turns to deGroms right triceps, with more testing needed to sort out how serious the issue might be. The Rangers can only absorb so many setbacks before the strain starts showing in their overall performance, and for a team that has counted on deGrom and Eovaldi to anchor things, the margin for error keeps shrinking. [Read more 🡒]