ARLINGTON -- Cody Bradford stepped on a Major League mound for the first time in 679 days on Wednesday afternoon, and he looked like his old self.
Bradford showed little rust, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the Rangers’ 6-0 victory over the Giants at Globe Life Field. It was an impressive performance for Bradford, who last pitched in the big leagues on Sept. 25, 2024.
Bradford has been battling to get back in the time since, notably undergoing left elbow “internal brace” surgery on June 25, 2025. He’s endured a few setbacks along the way, but the journey back paid off on Wednesday.
“Six-hundred-seventy-nine days since I last pitched, back when there was a team in Oakland,” Bradford said, smiling. “My goal today was just to get through 70 pitches and see how far I could get in the game and try and just soak in the moment of being back.”
Bradford scattered five hits with two walks and five strikeouts over a 70-pitch outing, and the North Texas native received a nice ovation from the home crowd when he exited in the fifth.
It’s a moment that Bradford wondered would ever come, let alone in the midst of a playoff race.
“Any long rehab stint is going to be filled with ups and downs,” said Bradford, who posted a 0.90 ERA in his most recent rehab assignment that spanned four starts between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.
“It’s really easy to just live with those ups and downs,” he continued. “You come in, your elbow feels great one day, you throw a good bullpen, you’re riding that high for the next couple of days. Well, the next bullpen, your elbow acts up a little bit, it’s a little bit tighter or you’re not throwing the ball where you want. You’re kind of just questioning yourself, ‘Am I good enough to get back there?’ Today answered a lot of questions that I had about myself.”
Bradford opened by striking out Giants leadoff man Bryce Eldridge on an 81.1 mph changeup. He closed the first inning by striking out Osleivis Basabe on an 81.6 mph changeup. Bradford had two more strikeouts in a scoreless second.
In the third, Bradford benefitted from a sliding catch by center fielder Evan Carter for the second out on a liner by Jung Hoo Lee. Bradford then struck out Willy Adames on an 89.5 mph fastball to end the 1-2-3 frame.
Bradford worked a scoreless fourth and recorded one out in the fifth. He left with two on in the fifth, but Tyler Alexander ended that Giants' threat.
Alexander retired the side in the sixth, followed by a scoreless seventh from Robby Ahlstrom. Chase Silseth pitched the eighth and Cole Winn closed out the ninth as the team completed its 10th shutout of the season.
The offense provided a cushion for Bradford and the bullpen, exploding for four runs during a two-out rally in the third. Brandon Nimmo, Justin Foscue and Elias Díaz each had RBI hits that frame, highlighted by Foscue’s first career triple to the left-field corner that brought in two runs.
“Brandon’s two-out RBI set the tone,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Two-out RBIs are momentum inflaters for us and killers for the other side.”
In the fifth, Nimmo sent a 1-1 splitter from Giants reliever Carson Seymour over the left-field fence for an opposite-field solo shot that extended the Rangers’ lead to 5-0. Texas tacked on one more run in the eighth on an RBI single by Nicky Lopez.
But the story of the day was Bradford, who provided a boost to a team looking to make a playoff push.
“I don’t think people realize how difficult it is mentally, not only physically, but mentally grinding through a rehab like that. There’s some dark days,” Schumaker said of Bradford. “To watch anybody come out of rehab, especially what he went through, there’s a lot of emotions and it was special to see him do it.
“A start that we really needed to win today, too, to win a series, so there was a lot of good that happened. But it always starts with starting pitching, and we’re really happy to have Cody back.”
With the win, the Rangers secured just their second series victory since the All-Star break. They have an off-day Thursday before opening a three-game series against the Orioles on Friday.