Foscue's 1st pinch-hit HR helps Rangers humble Halos

ARLINGTON -- If you ask Rangers manager Skip Schumaker, pinch hitting is the hardest thing to do as a hitter in this game.

Justin Foscue has made it a valuable piece of his game to become an important part of the Rangers’ offensive machine.

On Tuesday night, the Rangers and Angels were locked into a 2-2 stalemate for much of the evening after Texas ace Jacob deGrom allowed a pair of runs in the top of the first inning and Halos ace Jose Soriano allowed two of his own in the bottom of the second.

The Angels retook the lead, 3-2, in the top of seventh.

Enter Foscue. The 27-year-old launched a pinch-hit pinch-hit solo homer to tie the game at 3-3 to lead off the seventh against Angels left-handed reliever Tayler Saucedo, sparking a rally that would ultimately lead to an 8-3 Rangers victory.

“Again, pinch hitting is the hardest thing to do as a hitter in this game,” Schumaker reiterated. “It is a nightmare to be able to try to game plan for one at-bat and be ready in a high-leverage situation, usually late in games. Especially for [young guys] that are coming up through the Minor Leagues, they are typically playing every single day and not pinch hitting.

“For him to be this successful and platoon heavy, and then pinch-hit with another big hit later in the game was really impressive. Justin has been huge for us against left-handers all year long. That was one of the biggest hits probably of his young career so far.”

It was Foscue's first career pinch-hit homer and the first game-tying pinch-hit homer by a Ranger in the seventh inning or later since Rowdy Tellez’s two-run homer in the 10th on Sept. 19, 2025, against the Marlins.

As a pinch hitter this season, Foscue is now 3-for-11 (.273), with a homer, a double and two RBIs.

Foscue owns a career .315/.415/.606 slash line with 34 home runs in 593 plate appearances in the Minor Leagues against southpaws. He’s continued to hit lefties well in the big leagues, with a .356/.453/.733 slash line in 53 plate appearances this season.

“I think tonight was cool, because it was my first pinch-hit home run,” Foscue said. “Every time I go up there and do something for the team, it feels better and better each time. I would say right now I'm pretty comfortable in my role, wherever they really put me. I know most of the time it's going to be against a lefty, and I take pride in that. I’m just ready whenever I get my name called.”

Ezequiel "The Solution" Duran collected the go-ahead knock in the bottom of the eighth as the Rangers blew it open with a five-run frame, during which they sent 10 batters to the plate. Alejandro Osuna’s three-run homer to cap it off was the cherry on top.

“Justin started it off, obviously, with the home run,” Schumaker said. “We put the ball in play. I thought some of the balls just kind of snuck through as well, which cut in our favor. There's just value in putting the ball in play. Up and down the lineup, we had really good at-bats. The eighth inning was just one of those innings where guys were doing everything they could to put in play. I think the story of the game was the bottom of the lineup, again, getting it back to the top and providing a ton of offense.”