ARLINGTON -- The recipe for success for the 2026 Rangers is simple. Score first. Get to four runs. More often than not, they'll come out with a win.
When scoring four or more runs, the Rangers are 53-13, good for an .803 winning percentage and seventh in MLB.
When plating the first run of the game this year, regardless of inning, the Rangers are 46-16 (.742), which is tied for the second-best such record in the American League with the Red Sox and behind only the Rays (.758, 50-16).
On the other side, the Rangers are now 16-49 (.246) when their opponent scores first.
The Rangers fell 6-0 to the Nationals on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field after Washington took an early lead in the third inning that it never relinquished.
“We haven't been very good at coming back from a deficit,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Early on [in the season], it felt like we could fight back. Maybe our bullpen was keeping us in games and giving us a chance to come back. But lately if we don't score first, for whatever reason, it feels that we just haven't been able to come back.”
Because of that fact, and to no real fault of Rangers starter Kumar Rocker, the evening felt like a tale of two starting pitchers.
Rocker, making his 22nd start as he continues to build upon a career-high innings total – Majors and Minors combined – was good, but not great. And on any other day, allowing two runs in five innings against Washington’s young, high-powered offense might have been fine.
Rocker was far from the issue Wednesday night.
“He threw not too many first-pitch strikes,” Schumaker said. “He tried to fight back into the count a lot. Got out of a couple jams, which was good. He kept it tight, gave us a chance. Of course, he wants to go into the sixth and seventh inning, but he gave us a shot. That's all I can ever ask for. We felt our offense could maybe get back into the game. Then they just kept tacking on more runs, unfortunately, and we just couldn't get back.”
While Rocker labored through 92 pitches in his five innings, Nationals starter Cade Cavalli mowed through the Rangers’ lineup, collecting 10 strikeouts in his first four innings. He became just the third Nats pitcher to reach double digits that early in a game since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005 (Max Scherzer three times, Tanner Roark once).
The Rangers collected just four hits, all singles, and drew only one walk while striking out 13 times. They had just one baserunner over the final 21 plate appearances of the night, including a stretch of 14 consecutive outs between Corey Seager’s third-inning single and Elias Díaz’s infield single to lead off the eighth.
“We had five baserunners all night, so [Cavalli] was tough,” Schumaker said. “He has a lot of different weapons. I don't generally like giving the other side credit, the other pitcher credit, but he was as good as I've seen in the league all year. We just couldn't get anything going, that's just the bottom line.”
The Rangers’ offense has been a roller coaster of inconsistency all season. But the inability to make a real comeback when falling behind -- especially against a pitcher on a roll like Cavalli -- has determined the outcomes of many games before they even reach the midway point.
“I wish I could give you the right answer of what we need to do,” Schumaker said. “It comes down to getting the leadoff guy on if we can and and figure it out and go from there. We just couldn't get anything going together today.”