ARLINGTON -- Only six Rangers pitchers had attempted to use the ABS system this season. That’s by design.
Only two -- Kumar Rocker and Cal Quantrill -- had been successful.
On Friday night, in the Rangers’ 2-1 win over the Angels, starter MacKenzie Gore challenged a pitch for just the second time all season while facing Angels first baseman Vaughn Grissom in the first inning. In a full count, with a runner on first, Gore threw a looping curveball that clipped the top of the zone, but was called ball four.
Gore immediately tapped the top of his cap to signal a challenge, though there appeared to be a bit of confusion as Grissom took his base. After a brief pause in the stadium, the call was overturned and Gore walked off the mound with a smile.
“Just so you know, we don't encourage it,” manager Skip Schumaker said with a laugh. “What's crazy is [pitching coach Jordan Tiegs] told me he's been trying to land the curveball at the top of the zone because he feels like the curveball at the bottom of the zone has been getting hit a little bit. He's been trying to land it at the top. He felt like he did it, and he wasn't going to just let it go as a ball.
“Do I want him to challenge it? Sure, if it's right. But no, I typically rather have the catcher and the hitters challenge it. But it was a big play at the time.”
It was just one moment, but it set the pace for Gore’s evening in a start the team desperately needed. The 27-year-old southpaw tossed six scoreless innings, striking out seven, to preserve what was a scoreless tie for much of the night between the Rangers and Angels.
The Angels finally broke through the stalemate with a leadoff double from Denzer Guzman in the top of the 10th to score the automatic runner.
The Rangers ultimately walked it off in the bottom of the 10th inning. Wyatt Langford was down to the Rangers' last strike before doubling down the right-field line to score automatic runner Evan Carter to tie the game. An intentional walk to Brandon Nimmo brought up Ezequiel Duran and he hit a 100.8 mph grounder to Angels third baseman Guzman, who threw wide of second base, allowing Langford to come around and score.
“Duran, he had a great game, but the reason why that play happened, in my opinion, was because Nimmo took the baserunning serious,” Schumaker said. “He was running as hard as he could. The secondary was fantastic. It could have very easily been just a jog into second base. Instead, Nimmo gave everything he could to try to beat the throw, and an errant throw happened, and we ended up winning the game. So I think it's the little things that we talked about a couple days ago that make the difference.”
Duran, who went 4-for-29 in seven games on the Rangers’ most recent road trip between Oakland and Anaheim, has found his swing once again. He’s now reached base in eight of his last nine plate appearances over the last two games with a double, triple, two singles and two walks.
“We've been working the last couple days to be more simple and be straight to the ball and just don't think too much,” Duran said.
It was the Rangers’ sixth walk-off victory of 2026, though it was much more difficult than it needed to be. Texas outhit Anaheim, 11-3, by the end of the night and had ample opportunities to break the game open well before extra innings.
Excluding Langford and Duran’s hits to win it in the bottom of the 10th, the offense collectively went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The one was a bunt single by Carter in the fifth inning that did not score a run. They stranded 11 on base for the game.
“MacKenzie Gore was just fantastic tonight,” Schumaker reiterated. “The starting pitching has set the tone, which I've talked about. We needed good starting pitching, and they provided it. Our offense with runners in scoring position needs to get going. That is the truth. We had a lot of chances tonight.
“I love this game. This game just does not make sense sometimes. We'll take that win though.”