Leiter's strong 9-K start a positive in 3 takeaways from series loss to Reds

ARLINGTON -- So far, 2026 is looking a whole lot like 2025 at Globe Life Field.

The Rangers suffered their first sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to the Reds to finish off a weekend that looked a whole lot like the ‘25 ballclub’s losses.

“The tough part is that we got swept,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “That's the reality. We’ve got to figure out what went wrong. That's what I always do, even when we win. What did we miss? What are things I can do better to get guys ready and win more games? We have another tough opponent, obviously, coming in [Seattle for three games Monday-Wednesday]. We’re looking forward to coming back tomorrow and righting the ship a little bit.”

Here are three thoughts about the Rangers’ sweep at the hands of the Reds:

1. The good: Trio of 20-something starting pitchers

MacKenzie Gore and Kumar Rocker did their jobs in the first two games, allowing a combined five runs and striking out 12 in the Rangers’ two losses. The same fate awaited Jack Leiter on Sunday. The 25-year-old tossed five innings of one-run ball, striking out nine. He surrendered four hits, all singles.

“Our starting pitching is as good as there is in the league,” Schumaker said. “I really feel that. I thought that in Spring Training, I thought that in the offseason, honestly, right when we acquired Gore. What Rock did yesterday was a huge step for him and for us, and for what this rotation could look like moving forward. Because, I think Jack and Rock can still [improve], which is scary. And same with Gore. There's no one satisfied in that rotation.”

2. The bad: Offense can’t produce much at home

This weekend has felt a lot like 2025, and not like the season-opening road trip. Starting pitching dominated, Leiter included. But the offense was unable to manufacture any runs like it was able to in Philadelphia and Baltimore. The Rangers scored four total runs over the course of the sweep, along with a season-high 15 strikeouts in Sunday’s loss.

There was lots of talk about Globe Life Field’s transition into a pitchers' park over the past few seasons, and that clearly didn’t change into 2026.

"[Reds starter] Chase Burns has a really good arm, but I think we're a better offense than we showed,” designated hitter Joc Pederson. “There's no excuses. We still got to score some more runs.”

Over the Rangers’ 4-1 start spanning the first five games, they outscored opponents by 10 runs (29-19), averaging 5.8 runs per game through the end of March. Over the 0-4 start in April, Texas has been outscored by 10 (17-7), plating three or fewer runs in all four of those games.

Texas also has scored just two runs over the last 25 innings of play, going 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position over that time.

“There was some pretty good pitching over there,” Schumaker added. “Chase Burns is pretty good, it was a tough assignment today against him. I thought, for the most part, the ABs were good against a really tough pitcher. We struck out a few times to get it, but we also had the chance to win, and that's all you can sign up for is giving yourself a chance to win every night. I felt like we had that in all three games in the series. We had a chance to win with traffic on bases, on the bases, and just didn't get that big hit.”

3. The ugly: Closer situation

The Rangers didn’t acquire a bonafide closer this offseason, opting to rebuild the bullpen with solid veteran relievers. But that still left a glaring hole in high-leverage spots, all of which came back to bite Texas in the sweep.

Schumaker said all spring that Chris Martin and Robert Garcia would share closer responsibilities early on. That obviously hasn’t gone to plan so far.

On Friday night, Martin was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs in the top of the ninth inning. On Sunday, Garcia retired just one batter in the top of the eighth, allowing the decisive run to score.

“I think it’s a conversation that we'll have with the staff,” Schumaker said of handling the back of the bullpen. “It's six, seven games in. We still have a long way to go, but we need to get these guys right to get to where we want to get to. These are guys we’re going to go with because we think they are good. We are going to keep throwing them out there. As far as lanes and roles and stuff, I think we are all still trying to figure that out. ... There are guys that can earn more leverage spots for sure.”