Late rally falls short, but Rangers like 'identity' they see forming

SEATTLE -- The Rangers fought to their last out.

Nobody likes moral victories. Nobody wants to hear about a team's fight when it ends in the L column. But that fight -- win or lose -- has clearly been the identity of this Rangers team 21 games into the 2026 season.

On Saturday, the Rangers fell, 7-3, to the Mariners as George Kirby continued his personal reign of terror over the club at T-Mobile Park. On the surface, it’s a regular mid-April loss against a pitcher Texas often struggles with in the middle of a long West Coast swing.

The Rangers were well within striking distance for most of the game, even with ace Nathan Eovaldi failing to record an out in the sixth inning. With a taxed bullpen amid this 10-day, 10-game road trip, Cal Quantrill was called upon to eat innings, which he did despite allowing three runs in the eighth.

That late deficit proved too large, but the Rangers would send eight batters to the plate in the top of the ninth, forcing the Mariners to turn to All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz in a game where he shouldn’t have even touched the dirt. The tying run -- Brandon Nimmo -- ultimately struck out with the bases loaded.

“We kept putting pressure on, had the right guys up, the hot hitters and just couldn't get that big hit,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I loved the battle. I thought it was [good] offensively, we just couldn't get that one clutch hit, but we got their closer in the game in a 7-1 game. It was a fight to the ninth. That’s really good to see. Obviously, this whole road trip, the whole season, that's been kind of our identity, which I love.”

And to be quite honest, that’s not something you could’ve said for the previous two iterations of this team.

“It’s the energy, everybody's putting together quality at-bats and doing a great job up there,” Eovaldi said. “There were a lot of opportunities for us to strike and score more runs. We were getting guys on base, getting the bases loaded, basically being one swing away from either taking the lead or tying it up. I feel like we've done that all season long, having deeper at-bats, battling and fighting pitches off. It's been a lot more energy and a lot more fun.”

While Kirby has been an Achilles’ heel for the Rangers for years now, the issues on Saturday were not as clear. While he still limited them to just one run, they got on base more than they ever have against him.

The Rangers' offense went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in the loss, leaving 16 runners on base, tied for the fourth-most in a nine-inning game in team history. The club’s combined 29 runners left on base across the last two games is their most since April 15-16, 2008 (30 LOB).

But Schumaker wasn’t too disappointed with the at-bat quality he’s been seeing.

“They weren't chasing, they got good pitches to hit,” Schumaker said. “They flew out to the big part of the field. They didn't roll over, they didn't punch out for the most part. They all took good at-bats, so it wasn't like they were chasing over their head or [at the] ball in the dirt. They just didn't get a hit, and that is part of the game. As long as we keep getting traffic, we'll get the hit. I'm not concerned. I was more concerned about getting traffic against a really good pitcher, which we did.”

The most important aspect at the end of the day was being in a good position for the rubber match on Sunday.

The Rangers still have not won back-to-back games at T-Mobile Park since May 28-29, 2019. They have not won a series in Seattle since May 8-10, 2023, a span of five total sets. But there’s still a chance for that in the series finale.

“Any time we're playing any of our divisional teams, especially now that there’s 13 games and with tiebreakers, we know how important it is,” Eovaldi said about having a chance to win the series. “It would be big for us. That's why I knew coming in today was going to be a big game for us. Those circumstances are why it makes today more frustrating with the way I went out there.”