The Texas Rangers spent nine innings running into dead ends, and somehow still walked off with a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Angels in 10.
That’s the strange beauty of this one. Texas was blanked through the first nine, wasted chance after chance, and still found a way to survive when it mattered most.
Down to their last strike, Wyatt Langford ripped a two-strike double to tie the game. Then Ezequiel Duran delivered his fourth hit of the night, and the Rangers cashed in on an Angels throwing error to bring home the winning run.
It was messy. It was aggravating. It was exactly the kind of game that can drive a fan base up the wall.
The Rangers were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and that lone hit was a bunt that didn’t score a run. They also out-hit the Angels 9-2 through nine innings and still trailed 1-0 with two outs and two strikes in the 10th. For Texas, that’s the sort of box score that leaves you staring at the wall for a while.
But the finish belonged to the Rangers, and Duran was right in the middle of it. He kept stacking up hits, and Langford delivered the biggest swing of the night when the season’s margin for error was gone.
Texas also got a major boost from its starter, MacKenzie Gore. He threw six scoreless innings, allowing just a couple of hits and a walk while striking out seven.
With Reid Detmers matching him for the Angels, this had the feel of a game where one clean inning could decide everything. Gore never really let it get away from Texas, and that kept the door open for the late rally.
The teams meet again in the second game of the series, with left-hander Cody Bradford set to go for Texas against right-hander Ryan Johnson for Anaheim.
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For Texas, the timing mattered almost as much as the achievement itself. DeGrom entered the game with a 3.95 ERA and 3.0 WAR on the season, and reaching such a major strikeout benchmark in a Rangers uniform only sharpened the sense that his presence can still change the tone around the club. The history book will record the milestone, but the bigger takeaway for Texas is what it says about deGroms remaining ceiling and how much weight his starts can still carry. [Read more 🡒]