ARLINGTON -- The Rangers had a forgettable series finale on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the A's, 9-2, at Globe Life Field. The loss prevented the Rangers from their first sweep since late June and ended a three-game winning streak.
As disappointing as the game was, though, the Rangers didn’t lose sight of the big picture.
“We would have loved to sweep, but we won the series,” first baseman Jake Burger said. “As far as our clubhouse is concerned, if we win the rest of our series -- you don’t have to sweep them, but if you win the rest of them -- we’re going to be in a pretty good spot.”
With the Rays -- owners of the best record in the American League -- coming to town for a four-game series starting Thursday, Burger said the Rangers are now entering the home stretch with a “playoff mentality.”
“There are no throwaway games in the big leagues, but a middle of June game, you’re not really thinking about September and October at that point,” he said. “That’s probably the mentality that we need to have and I think it starts tomorrow against the Rays.”
Signs pointed to a more promising day early on Wednesday.
The Rangers got off to a fast start with Ezequiel Duran belting his first career leadoff home run, turning on a 1-1 slider from A’s starter Jacob Lopez. Duran’s blast traveled a Statcast-projected 406 feet over the left-field wall to give the Rangers 1-0 lead. It marked the 11th leadoff homer of the season for the Rangers, the most in franchise history.
In the second inning, the Rangers extended their lead to 2-0 when Justin Foscue sent Lopez’s 86.5 mph cutter over the left-center-field wall to start the frame.
“I thought we were just going to keep continuing to add on,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Then we just had trouble with the cutter and the slider after that with Lopez. Overall, just kind of a tough game.”
The A’s stormed back with back-to-back homers in the top of the third off Rangers starter Cody Bradford. They jumped in front 3-2 with a two-run homer by Henry Bolte and a solo shot by Zack Gelof. Bolte delivered another two-run homer in the fourth, extending their lead to 5-2.
Bradford’s day was over after four innings, allowing a season-high five runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The three home runs allowed matched his career high (he also gave up three homers in a start at the Diamondbacks on Sept. 11, 2024).
“I think fastball command and changeup command were kind of hit and miss today at times,” Bradford said. “I think the inconsistency, falling behind in counts, putting them in hitters’ counts ... they made some good damage swings.”
The damage continued after Bradford exited. The A’s had a couple more long balls in the fifth. First baseman Jonah Heim and shortstop Alika Williams both took Rangers left-hander Robby Ahlstrom deep to push the A’s ahead 8-2.
The five home runs allowed by the Rangers were the most since the A’s hit five on April 24 at Globe Life Field.
The Rangers’ offense, meanwhile, was shut out in the final seven innings after the early homers. They went 1-for-14 with runners on base, including 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
But the Rangers know they’ll have to turn the page quickly with the Rays coming in. Schumaker said there are several similarities between the Rays and the NL-leading Brewers, who the Rangers faced last weekend in Milwaukee.
“Very similar,” Schumaker said. “I think they have really good starting pitching, a very good back-end bullpen, bullpen in general. And they have an MVP candidate at third base. Then they play some small ball with some speed.
“I think their run prevention is what makes them really good as well. They're flying around the outfield and catching everything. So the record is the record for a reason.”