PHILADELPHIA -- The winds were swirling at Citizens Bank Park, howling almost as loud as the hostile crowd of 40,051 that watched a Rangers lead evaporate before their eyes.
The 18 mph winds affected everybody on the field, but on Saturday afternoon, they felt like the 10th member of the Phillies.
The Rangers were one out away from securing a victory on a day when their ace, Jacob deGrom, was scratched ahead of his season debut due to neck stiffness. After eight innings of dominance by the Texas pitching staff in which spot starter Jacob Latz, Cole Winn, Jalen Beeks and Jakob Junis had combined to allow no runs on just one hit, things fell apart almost instantaneously in the ninth.
Closer Robert Garcia got two quick outs to start the inning, but Alec Bohm then hit a bloop single and Garcia walked pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa. Then, all hell broke loose when Chris Martin came in to face old friend Adolis García, who represented the potential tying run for Philadelphia.
García’s first-pitch pop-up should’ve ended the day. But first baseman Jake Burger, who has been solid since moving to the position full time in 2025, had trouble tracking the ball in the blustery conditions and dropped it in foul territory -- his second dropped popup of the afternoon. The Phillies responded with a game-tying three-run rally to send it to extra innings.
The Rangers scored a pair of runs off Phillies All-Star closer Jhoan Duran in the top of the 10th, one off a wild pitch and another on Andrew McCutchen's RBI single. They held off another Philadelphia rally in the bottom half to secure a 5-4 extra-inning victory -- the first win of the Skip Schumaker era.
“I think back to last year, I don't think we won this type of game last year,” said Burger, who also hit a two-run homer in the win. “I think that's kudos to the vets in here and the coaching staff. Obviously, Corey [Seager] and I strike out there [in the 10th], but Cutch comes through big. I think that's a confidence booster for everybody in the lineup. It doesn't feel like you have to be the guy every single night to get the job done.”
A win is a win. But it was a long road to get there, starting with the deGrom news at the very beginning of the day and ending well after Burger's error to extend the game.
“My takeaway is that these guys are resilient,” Schumaker said. “They have each other's backs. Latz had huge stones coming out like he did. That's unbelievable what he did for us today. Obviously, we didn't anticipate going into extra innings, but the guys fought back when we felt like we were down. McCutchen, huge hit off the bench.
"We made some mistakes, but good teams -- they come back. Your teammates come back and help you out. And that's what happened today.”
The Rangers were already behind the eight ball on Saturday with deGrom down. Latz, who has had his fair share of spot starts over the last two seasons, found out he was going to be starting just hours before the game when he arrived at the ballpark on the team bus.
“I was frustrated with the way that spring finished off,” Latz said. “So I was extra motivated to start the year on a good note. The message before the season started -- that I'm going to be a valuable arm for them and the role for me, right now, was going to be in the bullpen -- it changed quickly.”
Latz is maybe the best illustration of this new version of the Rangers, who came out on top Saturday night. He was elite in a swingman role for the club last season, and spent all spring locked in a battle for the fifth spot in the rotation before ultimately losing out to Kumar Rocker.
For a pitching staff and rotation that was one of the best in baseball last season with a number of superstars littering the roster, Latz has been the unsung hero in the midst of it all. But Schumaker praised him for not sulking after losing out on the fifth starter spot, instead choosing to lock in and help the team in any way possible.
“It's such a luxury to have him,” Schumaker said. “I don't know what more we could have asked for out of him. That was just super impressive. I’m just really proud of who he is and how he came back. You're supposed to take advantage of your opportunity -- and he absolutely did that.”