ARLINGTON -- There’s no getting around it; this weekend’s four-game set against the Mariners is the most important of the Rangers’ season to date.
The top two teams in the American League West faced off in Arlington to open the series on Friday night, both knowing what was at stake. The Rangers beat the Mariners, 5-4, thanks to offensive perseverance and some Burger bombs.
“I think we we know the implications on both sides of this series,” Rangers first baseman Jake Burger said. “Obviously getting Game 1 is huge for us. But the clock resets in an hour and a half here, so we’ve got to focus on tomorrow and go out there and play our best brand of baseball again.”
The Rangers took the lead in the first inning with a solo homer from Wyatt Langford and again in the fourth with a two-run shot from Burger.
Both times, though, MacKenzie Gore failed to put together a shutdown inning, allowing the Mariners right back into the game.
But Burger played hero once again, this time in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Brandon Nimmo singled and Evan Carter walked. Burger, coming to the plate with one out, sent a chopper up the middle that scored Nimmo from second as the go-ahead run.
It was his team-leading 18th home run and 64th RBI as he became the first Ranger with multiple go-ahead knocks in a single game this season. His 64 RBIs rank ninth in the American League.
“Jake Burger has had a lot of clutch hits this year,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Jake Burger is a winning player. He really is. All he wants to do and all he cares about is winning. … Jake always comes with edge and fire. He's a gamer, and I don't have to get him riled up at all. He always brings it.”
Not only that, but the Rangers got a run of insurance with a safety squeeze from Nicky Lopez in the sixth inning that scored Carter from third base. That run would come to be important when closer Jacob Latz allowed his first run since June 25 on a two-out wild pitch in the top of the ninth.
But he quickly got the final out to secure a one-run victory, thanks in part to Lopez’s insurance run.
“I think that's just the brand of baseball that we have to play, given just the roster we have, and waiting for some guys to get a little healthier,” Lopez said. “It’s a brand of baseball, mistake-free that when the opportunity presents itself, you’re putting a bunt down, to move a guy over, to hit a sac fly.
“Obviously, Wyatt hit a big fly and Burger hit a big fly. But it's one of those things you’ve got to just chip away and and play mistake-free baseball until you can have some of those guys that come back and that can leave the yard at any moment.”
Today was exactly the brand of baseball the Rangers need to be playing.
“You look at last year, I felt like we were pretty one-dimensional,” Burger said to that point. “If we hit a couple home runs, we'd win the game. If we didn't, we'd lose the game.”
Friday, the Rangers hit two home runs, played small ball and had clutch hits up and down the lineup. That type of multi-dimensional offense can help carry them down the stretch.
“I think it was a step in the right direction,” Burger said. “I think we played pretty good fundamental baseball across the board, and that's what I said we had to do. We had to win in all aspects of the game, right? We hit two home runs tonight, but we also kind of grinded out some at bats. Nicky Lopez with that bunt there. We're in a tie game if Nicky doesn't get that down. I think it's a step in the right direction. This is obviously a great win. But the clocks reset. We’ve got to focus on tomorrow.”