The Texas Rangers kept their season alive for one more day with a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, a result that pushed them to No. 162 with something still hanging in the balance.
That matters because the Rangers entered the day in a messy spot, and they only made it messier for the Twins after a four-run, two-out burst in the second inning flipped a 1-0 deficit into control of the game. From there, Texas leaned on a familiar formula: a tough outing from Nathan Eovaldi, enough timely hitting, and a path to tomorrow with a chance to keep playing past the regular season.
The Rangers are still dealing with a season full of bad breaks. Earlier this month, they lost their leadoff hitter and most dangerous bat against right-handers to a broken wrist.
A few days later, their most dependable starter in the second half was done for the year. Then last night, their most clutch and steady hitter broke his wrist too, ending his season.
Today brought its own share of weirdness at rain-slick Target Field in Minneapolis. Brandon Nimmo slipped or tripped and hobbled to his spot.
Nicky Lopez spent part of a half inning trying to shake off the awkward landing he took while trying to beat out a bunt, and he was later removed. The Rangers’ injury and misfortune carousel kept spinning from there in a long, strange way: Jake Burger was kicked off the team for refusing to shave his goatee.
Corey Seager developed gigantism due to overindulging on nerve tonic. Poor Danny Jansen succumbed to radiation poisoning as a result of working a side gig at an experimental data center.
Wyatt Langford missed the team flight after playing hero trying to save a neighbor’s possessions from a burning house. Evan Carter vanished after a stop at the Duluth Mystery Spot tourist trap.
Jacob Latz fit the description of a wanted murderer and now awaits justice in a St. Paul jail cell.
Ezequiel Duran was knocked out debating historical English politics at a bar in Shakopee. Jacob deGrom was hypnotized into believing he’s a chicken by a quack team psychologist.
Even with all that going wrong, Texas still sits in a place few would have expected: the Rangers lead the American League West by half a game.
Eovaldi was the stabilizing force again. Working with limited ammunition, he delivered 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and a couple of walks after giving up a first-inning run. He needed 71 pitches to give Texas just enough, and that was enough to get the Rangers to game No. 162 with a shot.
Danny Jansen also had a big say in the outcome, even after drawing plenty of heat earlier in his first season in Texas. He came through with two RBI hits, including a home run, and also delivered the two-out blooper that started the four-run second-inning rally that blew the game open and let the Rangers cruise the rest of the way.
Now Texas gets one more game, with the possibility of a division title still in play if Houston loses at least one more time and the Rangers win again tomorrow. If the Astros drop their final two, that would work too. And with the Rangers also trying to finish at .500, the ending would at least fit the strange shape of this season.
In Other News...
Skip Schumaker Gave Rangers Fans A Blunt Reason For Missing Out
The Rangers third straight October absence came down to the kind of shortcomings that tend to linger all season, and Skip Schumaker did not try to soften them. After Texas fell to the Twins on the final day of the 2026 season, the manager pointed to two familiar problems that kept the club from getting where it wanted to go: trouble away from home and an inability to stack up consistently against winning teams.
Now the focus shifts to an offseason that already has plenty of weight to it. Texas will have important decisions to make in the coming months, but the timetable could get murky if a new collective bargaining agreement is not in place by Dec. 1, leaving the front office to sort out its next steps while the larger picture hangs in the balance. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Young Owns The Rangers Mess Fans Saw Coming
The Rangers third straight trip to October baseball passed them by, and the disappointment lands squarely on the front office as much as anywhere else. President of baseball operations Chris Young has spent the past year trying to patch holes, but the moves that were supposed to stabilize the roster instead became part of the problem. The trades for MacKenzie Gore and Chase Silseth were meant to help in the moment, yet neither player gave the club the kind of impact it needed when the season tightened.
Gores arrival came at a real cost, with the farm system taking a hit after several prospects were shipped out, and the return never matched the price tag. Silseth, brought in at the trade deadline, also struggled to provide much separation from the issues he was meant to solve. For a team that could see this kind of regression coming, the most frustrating part may be that the warning signs were there long before the final standings made it official. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Finale Captured Why This Team Could Not Finish The Job
For much of the 2026 season, the Rangers kept finding a way to stay in the race even as the roster situation kept getting harder to manage. The rotation was forced to deal with physical problems, the bullpen absorbed more work than it could comfortably handle, and the lineup spent too many stretches without some of its key bats. Even with those issues, Texas stayed competitive deep into the year and gave itself a chance to make a push.
What kept showing up, though, was the gap between hanging around and actually taking control of the division. The Rangers were resilient enough to remain relevant, but not quite complete enough to finish the job when the season reached its final stretch. In a year defined by survival as much as production, that edge was often enough to keep the conversation going, but not enough to turn a hard-fought campaign into a division-winning one. [Read more 🡒]