ARLINGTON, Texas — Jake Burger homered twice, and the Texas Rangers came back from a 4-0 deficit and then a 5-1 deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field.
The win gave Texas a split of the four-game series and moved the Rangers to 71-73. Tampa Bay fell to 85-58 and still owns the best record in the American League. Texas trails by two games in the AL West and by two games for the last American League wild card.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said he used nearly every player available to him to get the win, and that everyone who went in contributed something.
“That was just a hell of a team win,” Schumaker said. “That was what happened from the start of the game to fight back against that team, which is one of the best in the major leagues, with that deficit, just shows you what’s in that clubhouse. These guys are going to fight to the end. I am confident in that.”
“In the dugout, I think the biggest hit today was after Tampa scoring four runs, Burger getting the home run,” Schumaker continued. “It was kind of a little bit of answer back. And I know it was only one run, but that’s what we needed. We needed something positive in that inning. And then obviously he had another home run, which is awesome. But you always are looking for answer, and he provided the answer today.”
Tampa Bay sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning against Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore and led 4-0. Burger homered leading off the bottom of the inning against Rays starter Ian Seymour. With Texas down 5-1 in the fourth, Burger hit a two-run shot off Seymour, and the Rangers batted around to tie the score.
Burger, speaking to Rangers Sports Network on the field afterward, said the Rangers are treating every remaining game as a playoff game, and that the two losses earlier in the series were there for the taking.
“Being down four runs on two separate occasions and scratching back, it was an awesome team win,” Burger said. “Looking back at the last two games, obviously it was frustrating, and it was right there for the taking. So to come out here, have a happy flight to Seattle and win this one, it’s huge.”
Jake Burger’s Ninth Career Multi-Homer Game
It was the ninth multi-homer game of Burger’s career and his second this season. The first came April 13 at the Athletics.
Three days earlier, between batting practice and first pitch on Sept. 3 at Globe Life Field, Burger shaved his beard down to a goatee he described to MLB.com as a Kevin Youkilis look. He said his wife, Ashlyn, signed off on the change on the condition that it produced home runs.
“Floating around the bases on the second one for sure,” Burger said. “And then a walk mixed in there. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the job done in the last one. But I think the goatee is here to stay.”
Burger is tied for the club lead with 25 home runs. His 82 RBI lead the Rangers.
Skip Schumaker On Jacob Latz’s Eighth Inning
With the score tied 5-5 in the fifth, Elias Díaz singled off Steven Matz to score Burger, and Ezequiel Durán singled off Casey Legumina to bring home Logan O’Hoppe. It was Durán’s 12th game this season with at least 3 hits.
The Rays pulled within a run in the seventh. Corey Seager restored the two-run lead with a solo home run in the eighth.
Jacob Latz worked a scoreless eighth, and Jakob Junis pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in seven chances. Trevor Williams got the win with 2 scoreless innings, his first since May 2025. Texas signed Williams on Sept. 1, two days after Washington released him.
Schumaker said Latz threw 22 or 23 pitches on Saturday and was pushing to go back out for a second inning on Sunday.
“I knew I had one inning of him,” Schumaker said. “He was fighting me to go back out there. I knew that if the meat of the order was coming up and if I was going to go down, I was going to go down with him. Those three at the top are as good as anybody in the major leagues. And I was sick of seeing them hit extra base hits, it feels like, for four games.”
“Corey Seager hitting a home run made that decision a lot easier not to send Latz back out,” Schumaker added. “Initially I had Latz going back out, he was fighting me to go back out and I agreed to it at the time. I didn’t feel good about it, honestly, because I didn’t really want him to throw 50 pitches in two days. As much as I want to win, I still care about the health of the player. And Corey hitting that home run made the decision a lot easier. Still a tough part of the lineup with Hicks and Mullins coming up, but Junis did a really good job.”
On Saturday night, Latz took the loss in the 10th inning. It was his first defeat since April 10 and came after he allowed his first home run since June 25.
Texas opens a three-game series at Seattle on Tuesday. First pitch at T-Mobile Park is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT. The Rangers had not announced a starter.
