Thoughts on a 5-4 Rangers win

· Yahoo Sports

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 04: Ezequiel Duran #20 of the Texas Rangers is mobbed by teammates after a walk-off double that scored the game winning run against the San Francisco Giants in the ninth inning at Globe Life Field on August 04, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Rangers 5, Giants 4

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  • Well, that was a relief.
  • I’m not sure what I would have done if the Rangers had lost that.
  • To have gotten six shutout innings from MacKenzie Gore, only to have two different relievers blow leads.
  • And not just two different relievers. One reliever who was the one player acquired at the deadline who isn’t in the minors, and one reliever who is your closer and one reliable bullpen arm right now.
  • And not just two blown leads. One blown lead that was the result of a home run by Osleivis Basabe, the former Ranger prospect sent out in the Nathaniel Lowe trade who has 19 plate appearances this season (and somehow three homers), and one blown lead that was the result of a passed ball putting two runners in scoring position.
  • I would have been incapable of functioning if the Rangers had lost this game.
  • Good work from MacKenzie Gore in the game. In both the second inning and the third inning he allowed a double and a walk, with the double and walk in the second inning both coming with no one out. Each seemed primed for a patented MacKenzie Gore Bad Inning, where things snowball and he allows a crooked number.
  • That didn’t happen though. Good thing, too, what with the team winning by just one.
  • 11 Rangers hits in the game, nine of which came from the 3-4-5 batters, Corey Seager, Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Duran.
  • Seager also had a walk of the intentional variety, and his slash line on the season is now .201/.310/.382. He’s pushed his OPS+ on the season to 100.
  • Since the beginning of June, Seager has slashed .271/.386/.479. That’s only in 14 games, though, which isn’t a good thing.
  • Also, in the lineup post I said in the body of the post that Seager was getting the day off when I should have said Jake Burger was getting the day off. I apologize for the error. Clearly Corey Seager felt slighted and had to put me in my place.
  • Somehow Nimmo and Duran each had three hits, with Nimmo having a double and Duran having two doubles, and yet neither scored a run in the game.
  • Although Nimmo would have scored on Duran’s final double were it not a walk off that scored Jake Burger, who had doubled to lead off the inning.
  • The Duran walkoff double got some assistance from Jung Hoo Lee, who Nelson Cruz-ed it out there in right field on the play.
  • Duran drove in the final four runs of the game, with a single to score Seager in the first after a Brandon Nimmo double had scored Joc Pederson, and a bases loaded double in the eighth.
  • Both those hits resulted in Nimmo ended up at third and ultimately being stranded. That station-to-station thing again.
  • Texas did go 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position, so you can’t really complain about that, though there was still a fair amount of meat left on the bone, particularly in the eighth. Duran and Nimmo on second and third after the Duran double, Evan Carter hits a ball about 10 feet that doesn’t bring anyone home, then Elias Diaz is walked intentionally so that the duo of Nicky Lopez and Cam Cauley can be mowed down.
  • Thank goodness that Ezequiel Duran made sure that, at the end of the day, that didn’t matter.
  • MacKenzie Gore topped out at 97.2 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.4 mph. Chase Silseth hit 97.3 mph with his fastball. Robby Ahlstrom’s fastball maxed out at 94.2 mph. Peyton Gray threw one fastball at 94.2 mph. Jacob Latz touched 95.8 mph with his fastball.
  • Jake Burger had a 112.9 mph double. Corey Seager had a 108.0 mph single, a 103.8 mph single, and a 103.0 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 107.4 mph lineout and a 101.7 mph double. Wyatt Langford had a 105.7 mph groundout. Joc Pederson had a 103.9 mph fly out. Brandon Nimmo had a 101.9 mph double.
  • Now a day game to take the series.

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